They  spent  long  days  on  the  stream     Page  172 


VIRGINIA  OF  THE 
AIR  LANES 


HERBERT  QUICK 

Author  of 
Double  Trouble.  The  Broken  Lance 


WITH  ILLUSTRATIONS  BY 

WILLIAM  R.  LEIGH 


INDIANAPOLIS 

THE  BOBBS-MERRILL  COMPANY 
PUBLISHERS 


COPYRIGHT  igog 
THE  BOBBS-MERRILL  COMPANY 

OCTOBER 


PRESS  OF 

BRAUNWORTH  &  CO. 

BOOKBINDERS  AND  PRINTERS 

BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 


VIRGINIA  OF  THE  AIR  LANES 


ULO6128 


VIRGINIA  OF  THE  AIR  LANES 

CHAPTER  I 

WHEN  MAIDENS  FELL  FROM  THE  SKY 

FOR  twenty  shimmering  miles  the  Gulf  beach 
lay  in  the  sun,  a  white  straight-edge  against 
blue.    Mistily  through  the  surf  haze  glim 
mered  the  tower  of  Sand  Island  light  save  when 
obscured  by  the  smoke-plume  of  a  fruiter  standing 
in  past  Fort  Morgan  for  Mobile.    It  was  early  fore 
noon.    The  yellow  globe  of  the  mooring-balloon  at 
the  fort  shone  in  the  sun  like  a  dome  of  some  au 
dacious  new  architecture,  flung  high  into  the  pulsat 
ing   air.     Two   men,    far   down   the  coast  toward 
Pensacola,  caught  the  far-off  splendor  and  noted,  in 
the  very  act  of  casting  off  from  it,  a  long,  cigar- 
shaped  aeronat — an  immense,  elongated  bubble  of 
quicksilver.    It  floated  seaward,  rounded  to,  stood  a 
moment  end  on,  librating  like  a  balancing  top. 
"She's  boun'  fo'  N'Yawlins,  Ah  reckon,  suh." 
The    speaker    was    a    typical    Gulf    fisherman, 
long-bearded,  soft  of  speech,  courteous  as  a  diplo- 

i 


2        VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

mat,  barefooted,  weathered  in  garments  and  skin. 
Over  his  cheeks  and  nose  were  scattered  broad 
brown  blotches  which,  had  it  not  been  for  their  size, 
might  have  been  called  freckles.  He  rolled  a  cigar 
ette,  lighted  it,  turned  his  almost  colorless  eyes  on 
his  companion,  repeating,  "She's  sho'  boun'  fo' 
N'Yawlins." 

In  the  mien  of  the  young  man  there  was  some 
thing  of  kinship  to  the  elder,  as  there  might  be  in 
a  New  England  chemist  or  engineer  something  that 
is  like  his  forty-second  cousin  fishing  on  the  New 
foundland  Banks.  The  softness  of  speech  was  modi 
fied  to  a  subtle  firmness  and  a  subdued  decision. 
The  slight,  tall  frame  was  arrowy  and  erect;  as  if 
the  youth  had  imbibed  from  some  winier  air  a  latent 
self-esteem  expressed  in  the  hint  of  incisiveness  in 
speech,  if  one  may  call  that  incisive  which  was  still 
soft  and  almost  caressing.  The  boy  also  had  the 
areas  of  mottled  freckling,  overlaying  a  pink  glow. 
He  wore  a  blue  flannel  shirt  with  a  bright  silk 
cravat;  his  shoes  were  scoured  gray  by  the  beach 
sand,  and  his  well-shaped  hat  was  powdered  with 
it ;  his  trousers  were  of  cadet  gray  and  were  striped 
down  the  side;  seemingly  they  were  a  part  of  some 
obsolete  uniform.  He  sat  on  a  great  square  timber 
half-buried  in  the  sand,  and  had  been  studying  a 
blue-green  Portuguese  man-of-war  cast  ashore  and 
rolled  up  before  the  breeze,  dragging  its  yard-long 


MAIDENS  FELL  FROM  THE  SKY   3 

tentacles.  On  the  beam  lay  a  steel  square,  a  brace 
and  bit,  a  roll  of  blue-prints,  some  steel  drills  and 
a  book  of  logarithms.  He  had  returned  to  the  sea 
bladder,  investigating  it  with  the  tip  of  a  slim  oil 
can,  and  had  mentally  formulated  a  parallel  be-/ 
tween  this  helpless  thing,  beaten  about  by  every , 
breeze,  and  the  dirigible  balloon  up  the  coast,  when 
the  speech  of  the  old  fisherman  made  him  look 
up. 

His  face  was  small  for  a  man's,  his  eyes  dark,  his 
lip  blackened  by  a  tiny  mustache  of  jet.  In  the 
manner  of  one  who  does  not  feel  obliged  to  reply  to 
the  speech  of  a  constant  companion,  he  picked  up  a 
pair  of  binoculars  from  a  cast-up  crate  and  studied 
the  distant  air-ship. 

"Mo'  likely  bound  for  Pensacola,  Captain,"  he 
said.  "She's  coming  this  way — a  Condor  with  bow 
rudder.  Winter  resorters,  I  reckon." 

"Then  she  don't  keer  whar  she  goes,"  replied  the 
fisherman.  '"It's  thisaway  o'  thataway,  jist  as  some 
lady  says." 

"I  don't  know  that  it  matters,"  said  the  younger 
man,  "whether  they  see  us  or  not;  but  I  reckon  we'll 
go  under  the  shed." 

"All  raght,  Miste'  Theodo',"  answered  the  cap 
tain.  "Hyah's  doin'  the  gophah  act  ag'in." 

The  aeronat,  drawing  nearer,  swelled  like  a 
great  silver  moon.  The  men  admired  her  as  they 


4       VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

walked  inshore  through  soft,  trodden  sand,  down  to 
a  lower  level  of  yellowed  palmettoes,  and  scaled  a 
steep  dune-slope  thicketed  with  curious  scrub-oaks 
only  a  few  feet  high,  but  hoary  with  age,  their  an 
cient  and  stunted  limbs  contorted  fantastically  by 
the  rheumatism  of  age,  and  covered  with  moss.  Be 
yond  was  a  deeper  hollow,  quite  out  of  sight  of  the 
sea,  but  lulled  continually  by  its  roar.  Here  was 
hidden  a  cabin  of  rough  boards  with  a  wide  ve 
randa  or  gallery,  on  the  columns  of  which  were  to 
be  seen  bleached  barnacles  telling  of  the  storm- 
tossed  voyage  which  had  brought  them  hither. 
Abutting  on  the  cabin  by  one  end  was  a  spacious 
shed,  without  visible  door  or  window.  So  thor 
oughly  was  the  edifice  concealed  by  the  oak  scrub 
and  the  low-growing  bastard-spruce,  that  one  might 
have  passed  a  dozen  times  within  a  stone's  throw  of 
it  without  seeing  it ;  and  even  from  the  air-ships,  its 
drab  roof  powdered  with  blown  sand  was  well-nigh 
invisible.  Under  the  gallery  was  perfect  safety  from 
observation  from  aloft. 

As  seen  through  the  glass,  the  air-ship  was 
swelled  to  impressive  bulk,  now.  Her  rudder  stood 
aslant,  a  stripe  of  brown  against  the  silver  foil  of 
her  bilge.  On  the  seaward  side  ran  the  darker  line 
of  a  toy  aeroplane — a  matter  of  appearance  more 
than  use — and  slung  beneath  by  a  gossamer  nacelle, 
steady  as  the  deck  of  a  liner,  hung  her  roomy  car, 


MAIDENS  FELL  FROM  THE  SKY   5 

the  engine-room  astern,  the  three  great  screws  half 
invisible,  like  the  vibrant  wings  of  bees.  On  the  for 
ward  deck  was  a  splotch  of  white  and  red,  like  a 
brilliant  gown,  and  grouped  about  it  were  two  or 
three  darker  forms  of  men. 

"How  she  cracks  on !"  cried  the  young  man.  "No 
end  of  power — the  new  nineteen-cylinder,  fan-type 
engines,  I  suppose." 

"She'll  be  wuth  about  fo'  bits  when  we  get 
through,  Miste'  Theodo',"  said  the  captain.  "Ain't 
shesheerin'  off?" 

She  was,  though  with  no  knowledge  of  them.  She 
veered  to  the  north  and  stood  inland  as  if  to  cross 
the  Little  Lagoon, — that  beautiful  salt  lake  which 
for  ten  miles  lies  within  sound  of  the  Gulf  surf,  but 
separated  from  it  by  a  little  wilderness  of  dunes — 
then  by  a  majestic  swooping  movement  she  threw 
her  whole  vast  sweep  of  broadside  open  to  their 
gaze.  The  captain's  dimmer  eye  now  made  out  the 
woman  and  the  two  men  on  her  deck,  while  Theo 
dore  Carson's,  keen  for  such  a  sight,  and  armed 
with  the  glass,  observed  that  the  woman  wore  a 
broad  hat  of  vivid  red,  a  scarf  of  the  same  color, 
and — a  woman  would  have  told  him — a  pique  gown. 
The  young  man  who  did  not  wish  to  be  discovered 
knew  only  that  it  was  white. 

"They're  past  the  Palmetto  Beach  resorts,"  ob 
served  Carson,  "and — " 


6       VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

"Eight  mile  past,"  interrupted  the  captain. 
"They're  on  this  side  o'  Bon  Secour." 

"Making  for  the  hotels  on  the  Lagoon,"  said  the 
young  man. 

"They  bette'  moor,"  said  the  fisherman.  "They's 
a  norther  comin'  out." 

Carson  scanned  the  sky  for  signs  of  the  "norther," 
but  saw  nothing  more  threatening  than  a  blue  sky' 
barred  by  a  few  white  scarfs  of  cloud  puffing  up 
from  the  north. 

"I  see  no  signs  of  a  blow  that  she  can't  be  held 
to  by  her  engines,"  said  he.  "The  sky  looks  fine." 

"They'll  sho'  hev  a  fight  to  keep  from  blowin'  out 
to  sea,"  returned  the  captain,  "onless  they  tie  up. 
What  they  doin'  now,  Miste'  Theodo'  ?" 

"Why,"  said  Carson,  studying  the  aeronat  with 
the  glass,  and  clipping  off  his  sentences  as  the  as 
tounding  evolution  of  the  incident  far  up  there  in 
the  blue  rendered  every  utterance  obsolete  before  it 
was  finished,  "why,  they  have  thrown  off  a  package 
of  ...  it's  mechanism,  ...  of  some 
sort  ...  in  operation,  and  .  .  .  They're 
making  a  tow  of  it.  ...  They're  reversing 
and  rounding  to.  See  them  drift  off!  They're  ex 
cited  and  all  aback  about  something 
Heavens !  See  that  thing  shoot  up !  It's  some  sort 
of  helicopter,  I  believe — and  the  girl's  alone  in  it, 
Captain!  Alone,  I  say!  Why  did  they  . 


MAIDENS  FELL  FROM  THE  SKY   7 

She's   lost  control — she's   lost!     It's  shooting  over 
this  way  and  coming  down  !  It  will — it  will    . 
My  God!   My  God!" 

The  thing  had  parted  from  the  great  aeronat, 
like  an  insect  scared  from  its  seat  on  some  great 
animal.  It  was  a  little  speck  topped  with  a  broader, 
mushroom-shaped  shimmer  which  Carson  knew  for 
the  revolving  blades  of  a  helicopter,  that  insidious 
toy  that  promised  so  much  for  the  conquest  of  the 
air  and  paid  so  little.  For  a  moment  it  paused, 
sucked  along  in  the  wake  of  the  huge  ship  as  if  in 
tow ;  then,  as  though  released  from  the  pull  of  grav 
ity,  it  shot  skyward,  leaving  the  silver  air-ship  far 
below,  as  a  fly  might  speed  from  a  floating  bubble. 
The  two  spectators  drew  their  breaths  sharply  in, 
their  hearts  frozen  in  fascinated  apprehension. 

The  air-ship  floated  fifteen  hundred  feet,  per 
haps,  above  the  tall  pines  in  the  slashes  of  the  nar 
row  isthmus  which  divides  the  Lagoon  from  the 
Gulf.  The  slow-flapping  buzzards  on  their  way  to 
some  reported  feast  over  near  Three  Rivers  never 
noticed  the  glittering  bilge  of  the  giant  craft,  so 
high  she  soared  above  them ;  but  the  helicopter  flew 
like  a  rocket,  up  above  the  balanced  ship,  so  straight 
into  the  cool  heights  of  the  inane  that  those  re 
maining  on  the  deck  it  had  left  lost  it,  behind  the 
overhanging  hull  of  the  aeronat. 

But  the  men  on  the  beach  saw  it,  saw  it  rise  sky- 


8        VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

ward  like  a  boy's  dart  until  they  shuddered  at  the 
abyss  that  yawned  between  it  and  the  earth ;  saw  it 
struck  by  the  far-advanced  loftier  vanguard  of  the 
north  wind  predicted  by  the  fisher-captain;  saw  it 
hurled  southward  before  the  blast  like  a  feather; 
and  then,  as  if  with  slowing  engine,  saw  it  fall,  with 
the  red  hat  and  the  white  dress  glimmering  appeal- 
ingly  from  under  the  shimmering  helices,  curving 
obliquely  toward  them,  like  a  projectile  hurled  out 
ward  and  downward  from  the  battlements  of  high 
est  heaven.  And  Carson  gripped  the  barnacled  col 
umn  fiercely ;  he  thought  of  the  girl  in  the  red  hat 
and  pique  skirt,  for  he  was  young  and  his  heart  was 
gripped  as  in  a  vise. 

The  Condor  had  a  name.  She  was  the  Roc,  owned 
by  Mr.  Finley  Shayne;  and  her  home  port  was 
Shayne's  Hold,  in  the  Catskills.  Those  who  are  fa 
miliar  with  the  scope,  power  and  spectacular  suc 
cess  of  Mr.  Shayne's  operations  in  Aerostatic  Power 
stocks  in  the  latter  part  of  the  first  quarter  of  the 
present  century,  will  surmise  that  the  Roc  was  the 
finest  product  of  the  art  of  aviational  construction 
up  to  that  time.  Her  speed,  her  stanchness,  her  air 
worthiness,  her  luxurious  appointments — the  fame 
of  these  had  preceded  her  to  the  Gulf  resorts,  where 
she  awaited  favorable  breezes  to  Cuba,  and,  from 
island  to  island  in  the  Antilles — an  attractive  itiner- 


MAIDENS  FELL  FROM  THE  SKY   9 

ary,  but  rather  hazardous,  the  aerostat  being  an  un 
safe  craft  for  the  open  sea. 

This  fateful  morning  she  had  moored  in  the 
aerial  harbor  at  Mobile,  in  her  berth  hard  by  the 
lift  near  the  Bienville  statue.  Mrs.  Shayne,  a  na 
tive  Mobilian,  pleaded  indisposition;  but  went  out 
to  see  some  old  houses  dear  to  her  youth.  Mr. 
Shayne  and  their  guest,  Mr.  Max  Silberberg,  had 
insisted  upon  the  presence  of  Virginia  Suarez,  Mrs. 
Shayne's  niece,  on  a  trip  down  the  Bay  in  the  Roc, 
to  witness  the  demonstration  of  a  new  flying-ma 
chine,  and  she  had  yielded. 

The  inventor,  a  suspicious,  foxy,  middle-aged 
man,  proved  personally  objectionable  to  Miss 
Suarez  because  his  thumbs  turned  back  so  far  that 
the  sight  of  them,  made  her  feel  creepy;  and  as  he 
gesticulated  freely  while  denouncing  all  devices  for 
aerial  navigation  except  his,  his  thumbs  were  much 
in  evidence.  He  showed  wonderful  capacity  for 
fury,  flying  passionately  at  all  who  said  that  his 
helicopter  might  not  be  the  key  to  the  aviation  situa 
tion.  So  Virginia  was  relieved  by  his  going  aft  to 
convince  the  engineer  that  the  Roc's  screws  were 
fundamentally  wrong  in  construction. 

"Unfortunate  devil,"  said  Silberberg. 

"Why,"  she  queried,  "because  of  those  awful 
thumbs?" 

"Because  he  failed  to  pleace  you,"  replied  Silber- 


io      VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

berg1,  with  the  hissing  termination  of  the  "please" 
that  constituted  the  one  race-betraying  slip  in  his 
speech.  "To  displeace  you — the  greatest  calamity." 

*"I  don't  believe  he  feels  it  much,"  said  she. 

"Another  misfortune,"  replied  he,  "not  to  know 
what  he's  losing.  Yes,  he's  an  unfortunate  devil." 

Virginia  wished  Wizner  back,  crooked  thumbs, 
fury  and  all ;  for  no  thumbs  or  voice  could  be  sp  of 
fensive  as  the  unrelieved  presence  of  Mr.  Silberberg, 
the  head  of  the  Federated  Metals  concern,  control 
ling  the  copper,  gold  and  silver  output  of  a  conti 
nent.  He  was  so  insistent  on  little  encroachments 
upon  her  reserve,  as  he  fussed  about  with  rugs  and 
deck  chairs,  tucking  her  wraps  about  her  as  they 
rose  into  the  high  south-blowing  upper  drift,  con 
stantly  touching  her  with  his  bediamonded  fingers 
in  little  ways,  his  breath,  heavy  with  cigarettes, 
floating  to  her  like  a  whiff  from  some  fetid  smoking- 
room.  Virginia  wished  herself  anywhere  away  from 
Silberberg. 

She  felt  herself  thrown  at  his  head  by  her  aunt. 
Little  privileges,  which  in  another  would  not  have 
offended,  seemed  like  the  unspeakable  liberties  of 
prospective  purchasers  with  slaves  offered  in  the 
market.  She  was  getting  morbid  and  almost  hys 
terical.  Silberberg's  slight  baldness,  running  up  in 
shining  coves  from  his  forehead,  his  well-groomed 
grossness  of  body,  his  oily  black  curls,  made  of  him 


MAIDENS    FELL   FROM   THE   SKY     11 

a  beastly  sultan  gloating  over  the  last  importation 
from  Circassia.  And  yet,  his  appearance  and  be 
havior  were  not  inherently  bad — the  situation  made 
them  unendurable.  Perhaps  Mrs.  Shayne's  tributes 
to  his  greatness,  and  her  emphasis  on  him  as  an  op 
portunity  open  to  Virginia,  a  mere  dependent,  were 
more  chargeable  with  producing  this  tension,  of 
which  Silberberg  was  quite  unaware,  than  anything 
actually  done  by  him. 

"So  you  think,  Aunt  Marie,"  she  had  said,  "that 
Mr.  Silberberg  is  one  of  the  great  ones  of  the  earth  ?" 

"Most  certainly,"  rejoined  Mrs.  Shayne.  "He  is 
retaining  and  increasing  the  enormous  wealth  and 
power  inherited — " 

"From  old  Israel  Silberberg,"  supplied  Virginia. 

"Virginia,"  said  Mrs.  Shayne,  "we  should  not 
mention  an  origin  of  which  Max  never  speaks. 
.  .  .  But  to  do  what  he  is  doing,  takes  a  great 
man.  Your  uncle  will  tell  you  so." 

Silberberg  made  the  hay  of  courtship  in  the  sun 
of  opportunity.  Virginia  pondered  on  her  aunt's 
standard  of  greatness.  The  dark  line  of  pines  at  the 
fort  drew  nearer;  and  beyond  lay  the  Gulf,  a  spark 
ling,  blue,  outspread  diagram. 

"Where's  Uncle  Finley?"  she  asked.  "We  are 
getting  a  long  way  south." 

"Giving  the  helicopter  a  private  examination," 
replied  Silberberg.  "It  is  a  happiness  to  me  that  he 


12      VIRGINIA    OF   THE    AIR    LANES 

is;  but  the  inventor  would  go  wild  if  he  knew  the 
sort  of  expert  his  precious  machine  is  alone  with !" 

"Wild?"  repeated  Virginia.    "Listen,  even  now!" 

Above  the  purr  of  the  screws  came  the  angry 
voice  of  the  inventor  in  the  engine-room  abusing 
the  Roc's  second  engineer  for  some  remark  deroga 
tory  to  helicopters.  Already  he  was  quite  wild 
enough,  Virginia  thought 

"Why  don't  we  try  his  machine?"  she  asked. 
"Must  we  go  out  over  the  Gulf?  Isn't  the  Bay  big 
enough  ?" 

"Mr.  Shayne  wants  to  pick  up  a  specialist  at  the 
fort,"  replied  Silberberg,  "the  man  who  wrote  up 
the  Chinese  war-aerostats.  He's  here  on  some  aero 
nautical  business  for  the  army." 

Miss  Suarez  gave  her  attention  to  the  wonderful 
landscape  spread  about  her  and  below  her.  Far 
astern  she  could  dimly  make  out  the  aerial  harbor 
at  Mobile,  a  cluster  of  khaki-colored  bubbles  float 
ing  over  the  old  city.  To  starboard  lay  the  gardens 
and  orchards  of  the  western  shore.  The  white 
scarp  of  the  eastern  cliffs  gleamed  through  the 
haze  far  to  the  northeast  past  the  sharp  spit  of 
Mullet  Point.  Away  to  the  east  lay  the  wide,  blue 
Bon  Secour  semicircle  beyond  which  she  imagined 
she  saw  the  triangular  splotch  of  Perdido  Bay. 
A  fleet  of  white-sailed  smacks  bore  off  toward  the 
western  oyster-beds,  and  lay  foreshortened  and  out 


MAIDENS    FELL   FROM   THE   SKY     13 

of  drawing  below  her.  Virginia  looked,  and  wished 
she  were  alone,  or  that  Silberberg  might  for  a  mo 
ment  be  content  to  pay  his  court  by  being  rather 
than  by  doing. 

A  battleship  was  coaling  at  the  Fort  Morgan 
wharf,  her  decks  alive  with  blue-jackets;  and,  while 
Virginia  watched  them,  the  retractile  telephone 
was  tossed  down,  and  brought  word  that  Captain 
Wickham  could  not  accompany  them.  At  Shayne's 
order  they  cast  off;  and  it  was  then  that  Theodore 
Carson,  at  his  mysterious  shed  in  the  dunes,  had 
observed  their  ship. 

The  Roc  circled  to  the  west  to  avoid  the  inhibited 
passage  over  the  batteries,  and  stood  east  along  the 
beach.  Wizner  abandoned  his  quarrel  and  came 
forward  to  make  the  test.  He  set  the  helicopter  on 
the  deck,  where  it  stood  unsteadily  on  its  slender 
bamboo  legs,  its  painter  hanging  over  the  rail,  its 
top  crowned  by  the  screw-wings,  slanted  a  little 
outboard  for  the  launching. 

"How  will  you  get  her  off,  Wizner?"  asked  Mr. 
Shayne. 

"Easy  enough,"  answered  Wizner  tartly. 

"Maybe  we'd  better  make  a  descent  for  you," 
suggested  Silberberg.  "It  may  be  one  of  these  ter 
restrial  helicopters." 

"I'll  ask,  when  I  want  you  to  go  down,"  replied 
Wizner,  glaring.  "You'll  see  whether  it's  a  ground 


14      VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

machine  or  not.  May  I  take  down  a  section  of  that 
rail?" 

"Certainly,"  answered  Mr.  Shayne.  "But  don't 
let  the  helicopter  topple  off.  It  might  fall  on  a 
fisherman.  What  are  you  doing,  Virginia?" 

The  girl  had  stepped  forward  as  if  to  take  a 
seat  in  the  little  cany  car  of  the  helicopter. 

"Let  me  sit  in  it,"  said  she.  "I  want  to  imagine 
how  you  feel  when  you  get  out  into  space." 

"I  wish  you  would,"  said  Wizner.  "It  will  hold 
her  still.  It's  perfectly  safe." 

Virginia,  laughing  at  playing  paper-weight,  en 
tered  the  car,  where  she  sat  fascinated  by  the  in 
ventor's  turned-back  thumbs  as  he  went  over  the 
bearings,  the  lubrication,  the  feed  and  the  ignition, 
and,  with  a  word  of  reassurance  to  the  girl,  started 
the  tiny  engine.  Softly,  steadily,  the  finely  adjusted 
mechanism  revolved,  setting  the  car  into  tingling 
vibrations  which  thrilled  like  electricity. 

"Which  is  the  clutch-lever?"  she  asked. 

"This,"  said  the  inventor,  pointing.  "I'm  going 
to  the  engine-room;  when  I  come  back  I'll  show 
you  how  it  works." 

Mr.  Shayne  went  aft  with  Wizner,  in  animated 
conversation,  leaving  Virginia  in  the  throbbing  car. 
The  rail  had  been  removed,  and  a  little  push  would 
have  been  quite  sufficient  to  shove  the  girl  and  the 
machine  overboard  into  the  empty  air.  The  thrill 


The  car  slipped  off  and  swung  in  mid  air      Page  15 


MAIDENS    FELL   FROM   THE   SKY     15 

of  the  vibration,  the  sense  of  risk,  or  the  intense  gaze 
of  Silberberg  made  her  face  flush.  He  had  never 
seen  her  so  charming.  She  laid  her  hand  on  the 
clutch-lever. 

"I  could  move  this  lever  a  little,"  said  she,  "and 
fly  away.  I  feel  as  if  I  should  fly!" 

"I  shall  not  let  you,"  said  he.  "I  shall  hold 
you !" 

"Mr.  Silberberg!" 

The  rebuke  was  evoked  by  his  putting  his  arm 
about  her.  One  white,  jeweled  hand  was  slipped 
behind  her,  the  other  laid  on  her  arm,  the  oily 
perfumed  curls  stooping  until  the  red  lips  ap 
proached  hers.  Perfectly  aware  of  what  she  was 
doing,  but  quite  reckless  of  consequences,  Virginia 
pushed  the  lever,  threw  in  the  clutch — and  the  wings 
started.  The  pull  of  the  vivified  mechanism,  draw 
ing  him  out  to  death,  made  Silberberg's  very  fingers 
tingle  with  terror,  and  he  let  go  girl  and  car,  and 
leaped  backward.  Under  the  lift  of  the  wings,  the 
car  dragged  to  the  edge,  slipped  off  with  a  grating 
sound,  and  swung  there  in  mid  air,  the  painter 
dangling  almost  within  reach,  three  hundred  fath 
oms  in  the  air,  supported  only  by  the  spinning 
helices  driven  by  an  engine  that  one  man  only  knew 
how  to  manage,  and  he  as  far  removed  from  it,  po 
tentially,  as  if  he  had  been  in  Mars ! 

The  carmine  tint  that  had  stimulated  the  aggres- 


16      VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

sion  of  Silberberg  faded  from  Virginia's  lips  as 
her  mouth  set  in  a  white  line;  and  her  face  turned 
deathly  pale.  Half-rising,  she  stretched  her  hand 
toward  the  aerostat,  whence  there  came  to  her  ears 
the  cries  of  Silberberg  and  her  uncle,  and  the  wild 
profanity  of  Wizner. 

"Listen  to  me,  damn  you,"  he  yelled,  "listen !" 
He  was  trying  to  tell  her  how  to  use  the  levers — 
but  she  could  not  understand  for  the  wild  drum 
ming  in  her  ears.  She  felt  stifled,  her  hand  trem 
bled  so  that  she  could  not  hold  to  anything,  no 
matter  how  she  tried.  At  last — it  was  over  in  a 
moment — more  by  accident  than  design,  she  moved 
something.  With  appalling  velocity  the  thing  shot 
upward,  the  aeronat  fell  away  toward  the  earth, 
the  fisherman's  house  far  beneath  was  whisked 
down  to  the  littleness  of  a  toy.  The  air  struck  her 
face,  blowing  downward  more  and  more  chill. 
Overhead  the  screws  hummed  implacably,  the  only 
sound  she  heard.  She  was  in  the  midst  of  the  illim 
itable  silences,  now  for  the  first  time  broken  save 
for  the  eagle's  scream  or  the  rustle  of  the  wide 
wings  of  the  osprey  or  the  man-o'-war  hawk.  Her 
heart  felt  gripped  in  an  iron  hand,  and  throbbed 
smotheringly.  She  was  climbing  upward,  drifting 
north  toward  the  Lagoon.  If  she  could  only  de 
scend  in  landlocked  water,  she  might  yet  be  saved — 
and  she  was  not  the  girl  to  give  up. 


MAIDENS   FELL   FROM   THE   SKY     17 

She  studied  the  machinery,  trying  to  apply  her 
picked-up  knowledge  of  engines.  Here  was  the 
thing  with  which  to  stop  it,  she  felt  sure  of  that; 
but  to  stop  it  suddenly  was  mere  suicide,  a  swift 
fall  to  death.  Some  means  there  must  be,  she 
knew,  to  ease  it  down ;  but  she  saw  nothing  she 
dared  touch.  That  was  the  horror  of  it, — she  dared 
touch  nothing.  She  could  only  sit  there  awaiting 
whatever  might  betide,  away  up  in  the  awful  isola 
tion  of  the  sky,  with  a  demon-machine  that  buzzed 
in  ferocious  energy  and  mounted  upward. 

She  was  growing  calmer  now.  It  would  surely 
slow  down  of  itself,  she  reasoned;  and  if  it  did 
not — well,  she  had  escaped  from  Silberberg,  any 
how.  It  was  a  clean,  unsullied  place  in  which  to 
meet  the  end.  She  would  rather  live — but — already 
nature's  ether,  which  makes  death  easy,  was  stealing 
into  possession  of  her  senses. 

And  then  the  north  wind  struck.  The  puff  smote 
her  cheek,  the  helicopter  yielded  to  it  and  swept 
southward,  like  a  feather  before  a  fan.  The  Lagoon 
moved  from  under  her,  pulling  the  Gulf  after  it. 
She  was  blowing  out  to  sea.  As  the  new  thought 
added  itself  to  her  conception  of  the  desperate  situ 
ation,  the  sinking  of  her  heart  told  her  that  until 
now  she  had  never  given  up  hope.  She  reached 
out  to  stop  the  engine;  but  as  the  vision  passed 
through  her  mind  of  falling,  falling  like  the  stick 


i8      VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

of  a  rocket,  being  dashed  to  pieces  on  the  earth, 
and  nuzzled  over  by  wild  hogs  until  some  one 
discovered  her,  she  withdrew  her  trembling  hand 
again,  deliberately  choosing  a  grave  in  the  sea. 

Then  a  voice  seemed  to  speak  in  her  ear  from 
the  chill  solitude,  senseless  words,  as  of  one  stam 
mering,  like  the  phantasms  of  voices  heard  in  the 
delirium  of  fever,  finally  growing  distinct,  and 
repeating  over  and  over  a  command :  "Retard  the 
spark !"  it  said,  "retard  the  spark !" 

The  Roc  was  far  below  and  to  the  north,  now, 
the  Gulf  breakers  foamed  nearer  and  nearer,  and 
still  rang  in  her  ears  the  ghostly  command,  "Retard 
the  spark."  She  tried  to  remember  about  engines — 
but  this  one  was  so  different !  Aimlessly  she  put  her 
hand  out,  touched  a  little  sliding  thing,  and  paused, 
afraid  to  move  it,  yet  quite  confident  it  was  the 
thing  to  move.  She  would  fall  now,  if  she  fell, 
into  the  green  water  of  the  Gulf — that  was  a  grim 
sort  of  comfort.  She  moved  the  sliding  thing,  and 
thought  the  buzz  of  the  helices  less  strenuous.  The 
ground — a  landscape  of  almost  pure  white  picked 
out  in  dark  green  blotches  of  rosemary  and  bas 
tard-spruce — the  ground  seemed  rising  to  her. 
The  roar  of  the  breakers  swelled  in  her  ears,  like 
the  crescendo  of  some  tremendous,  up-rushing  music 
— and  she  realized  that  she  was  falling,  in  a  great 
parabola  that  might  carry  her  into  the  sea,  or  might 


There  fell  out  a  mass  of  red  hat,  crimson  scarf,  pique  and 
silken    fallals      Page    19 


MAIDENS    FELL   FROM   THE   SKY     19 

dash  her  upon  the  driftwood  and  wreckage  of  the 
beach.  By  the  breadth  of  a  hair  she  advanced  the 
spark;  and  the  helicopter  assumed  a  more  level 
slant,  toward  the  frothing  water,  and  above  the 
driftwood. 

Suddenly  the  machine  careened ;  and  she  thought 
she  had  struck,  to  be  dashed  broken  on  the  ground, 
lost.  She  had  not  seen  Theodore  Carson  on  that 
highest  dune;  but  he  had  grasped  the  painter  as  it 
dragged  over  him;  and  it  was  he  who  had  thrown 
the  flying-machine  from  its  level  swoop,  even  as 
it  jerked  him  down  the  dune,  with  Captain  Harrod 
clinging  to  his  legs,  dragging  them  almost  to  the 
water's  edge.  The  car  swung  horribly ;  and,  finally, 
spilled  from  it  by  its  careening,  there  fell  out  of  it 
a  mass  of  red  hat,  crimson  scarf,  pique  and  silken 
fallals.  The  helicopter  tore  loose  and  fled  out  to 
sea  before  the  gale;  and  this  young  man  who  did 
not  care  for  visitors  found  himself  burdened  with 
one  in  the  form  of  a  rather  good-looking  girl,  as 
he  could  see  even  in  the  chaos  of  her  land-fall,  who 
lay  in  the  soft  sand  apparently  unhurt,  but  in  a 
dead  faint — come  to  him  literally  out  of  the  sky. 


CHAPTER  II 

A    HOSPITABLE    BANDIT 

THE  helicopter  commanded  the  attention  of 
Captain  Harrod :  his  bare  toes  buried  in  the 
sand,  he  stood  gazing  after  it,  as  after  hav 
ing  brought  Virginia  Suarez,  it  had  risen  as  by  some 
sort  of  negative  gravity,  and  shot  out  to  sea  with  its 
engines  firing  like  a  gatling;  whither  it  was  now  dis 
appearing  from  the  watcher's  sight  after  the  manner 
of  a  lost  toy  balloon. 

Theodore  Carson,  being  young,  ignored  the  ma 
chine.  He  stared  for  a  moment  in  amazement  at 
the  prostrate  girl,  then  took  her  tenderly  in  his 
arms,  carrying  her  toward  the  hidden  cabin.  At 
the  steepest  spot  Captain  Harrod  overtook  him; 
but  the  young  man  paid  no  heed  to  offers  of  aid, 
wading  steadily  on  to  the  door,  which  the  captain 
unlocked  and  opened,  standing  aside  for  Carson 
and  his  interesting  burden.  Theodore  took  her  into 
the  large  single  room,  laid  her  softly  on  a  clean- 
looking  bed  covered  with  a  Navajo  blanket, 
smoothed  the  white  skirt  down  decorously,  removed 
the  long  pin  and  laid  aside  the  red  hat,  seeming 

20 


A    HOSPITABLE    BANDIT  21 

scarcely  to  know  what  he  was  doing.  There  she 
lay  like  a  dead  bird,  her  plumage  unruffled;  for  the 
white  sand  had  shaken  from,  her  dress  and  she 
looked  unsoiled  and  pure,  and  hopelessly  still. 

"She  is  dead!"  said  Theodore,  in  a  hushed  voice. 

"O,  Ah  reckon  not!"  replied  the  captain.  "You 
ort  to  do  something!  She's  swounded!" 

"What  can  /  do?" 

A  child  asked  to  put  to  rights  a  power-loom,  a 
perfecting  press,  a  telautograph,  or  any  other  com 
plex  and  delicate  contrivance,  might  have  used  the 
same  tone.  The  captain  approached,  put  his  hands 
behind  him,  and  looked,  hat  in  hand. 

"Is  her  heart  beatin'  ?"  he  inquired. 

"I  don't  know!"  cried  Carson,  twisting  his 
fingers.  "I  don't  know!" 

"Ah  reckon,"  said  the  captain,  in  an  awed  whis 
per,  "that  she  wouldn't  keer — seein'  how  things  is — 
if  you'd  listen  an'  see,  Miste'  Theodo' !" 

Carson  laid  his  ear  lightly  to  the  white  blouse. 
Some  fluttering  he  seemed  to  feel ;  but  he  could  not 
be  certain.  Harrod  brought  water  in  a  watering- 
pot,  which  he  seemed  to  have  planned  to  use  as 
upon  a  lily  or  rose. 

"Do  it  beat?"  he  asked. 

"I  can't  tell,"  said  Carson,  "nor  whether  it's  my 
pulse  or  hers  that  beats.  Oh,  I  wish — what  do  they 
generally  do,  Captain?" 


22      VIRGINIA    OF    THE   AIR    LANES 

"They's  some  paht  o'  they  frock  that  always  has 
to  be  unrove,  ain't  they?"  inquired  the  captain  anx 
iously. 

"Captain,"  said  Carson,  the  perspiration  standing 
on  his  brow.  "I'm  going  out  on  the  gallery  for 
air.  You  do  what  has  to  be  done,  Captain — or  she 
may  die!" 

"Put  some  watah  on  huh  face,  suh,"  said  the  cap 
tain,  in  judicious  avoidance  of  extreme  measures. 
"Ah  don't  reckon  this  hyah's  a  case  fo'  vi'lent  o' 
oconse'vative  remedies.  I'll  oncork  that  ha'tsho'n 
bottle!" 

Carson  pressed  the  wet  towel  to  the  girl's  face; 
the  captain  held  a  bottle  labeled  "ammonia"  to  her 
nostrils ;  she  gasped,  drew  a  quivering  sigh,  opened 
her  eyes,  and  saw  over  her  head  a  sloping  roof  on 
which  the  mud-wasps  were  plying  their  masonry, 
rude  walls  of  rough  boards,  a  rack  of  guns,  some 
instruments  nautical-looking  to  her  unschooled  eyes ; 
a  tall,  rough-looking,  sailor-like  man  stuffing  the 
cork  in  a  bottle  of  pungent  emanation,  and  a  young 
face  which  would  have  been  girlish  had  it  not  been 
for  the  little  black  mustache  and  the  deep  coat 
of  tan.  The  older  man  was  looking  at  her  in  a 
fatherly  way,  and  the  young  one  was  sponging  her 
forehead,  his  face  near  hers.  She  sat  up  suddenly, 
felt  her  coiffure,  and  looked  about  for  her  hat. 

"You   have  had   a   fall,   madam,"   said    Carson, 


A    HOSPITABLE    BANDIT  23 

"and  are  shaken  up  a  little;  but  you  are  safe  and 
among  friends." 

"Oh,  thank  you,"  she  said,  in  a  tone  of  the  most 
correct  formality.  "It's  ever  so  kind  of  you,  sir — 
I — I — I — Oh,  I  thought  I  was  lost!  I  thought  I — 
Oh!  Oh!  Oh!  Oh!  O-o-o-h!" 

Suddenly,  from  the  polite  commonplaces  of 
speech,  she  broke  into  hysterical  screaming.  Then 
she  bowed  her  face  in  her  hands  as  if  to  shut  out 
some  terrifying  sight,  and  moaned  and  shivered 
piteously,  asking  them  to  pardon  her,  promising  to 
be  calm  presently,  sometimes  looking  up  for  a  mo 
ment  with  a  smile  forced  through  the  horror 
stamped  on  her  face  by  memory  of  the  ordeal 
through  which  she  had  passed,  and  then  breaking 
down  into  hysterical  crying  again.  Captain  Harrod 
poured  a  stiff  glass  of  red  liquid  from  a  bottle, 
diluted  it,  and  took  it  to  the  shuddering  girl,  who 
looked  pathetically  up  into  his  face  for  a  moment, 
swallowed  it  obediently,  and  coughed  as  if  stran 
gled  by  it. 

"And  now,"  said  Mr.  Carson,  "we  will  leave  you, 
if  you  will  excuse  us.  Please  feel  at  ease.  You  are 
quite  safe,  and  the  cabin  is  yours.  We  are  in  all 
ways  at  yo'  service.  The  captain  here  is  my  friend, 
and  we  belong  to  a  race  that  sees  a  sister  in  every 
helpless  lady.  I  think  you  will  desire  to  sleep; 
and  I  hope  you  may  awake  refreshed ;  after  which 


24      VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

we  shall  place  ourselves  mo'  definitely  under  your 
command." 

She  looked  at  him  questioningly.  The  softness 
of  his  voice,  his  little  inconsistent  lapses  into  dialect 
as  he  uttered  the  old-fashioned  chivalric  sentiments 
won  her  trust 

"Ah'd  lie  down,  ma'am,"  suggested  the  captain, 
"ontil  that  medicine  gits  a  chance  to  wuk.  Good- 
by,  ma'am." 

Virginia  lay  back  and  closed  her  eyes;  but  the 
potion  brought  no  drowsiness.  Her  face  grew  hot, 
and  she  knew  her  eyes  would  shine  if  she  opened 
them,  with  a  brilliancy  quite  fascinating  to  the 
young  man  with  the  little  black  mustache.  The 
fact  that  she  thought  of  this  startled  her.  Was 
she  growing  flighty  with  fever?  Why  this  abnormal 
hilarity  of  spirits,  in  the  exaltation  of  which  all 
anxiety  departed?  She  was  unable  to  dwell  long 
in  thought  on  the  uncertainty  and  grief  of  her  aunt 
at  so  losing  her,  first  into  the  sky,  and  then,  sup 
posedly,  into  the  Gulf.  What  difference  did  it 
make?  The  world  grew  unaccountably  roseate 
with  hope;  more  joyous  because  she  could  not  tell 
why.  The  one  insistent  impulse  of  the  moment 
was  to  burst  forth  into  song — restrained  with  diffi 
culty  by  dwelling  on  the  bad  form  of  vocalization. 
She  was  sure,  however,  that  she  was  about  to  do 
something  shockingly  unladylike.  Perhaps  it  was 


A    HOSPITABLE    BANDIT  25 

the  ozone  of  the  immense  altitude  of  the  helicopter. 
The  room  seemed  afloat  on  the  waves  that  roared 
outside,  but  this  struck  her  as  extremely  jolly. 
Really,  it  appeared  selfish  to  enjoy  this  funny  aber 
ration  of  the  nervous  system  alone.  Her  old,  old 
friends  outside — the  young  man  with  the  girl's 
face,  and  his  bewhiskered  companion,  the  relations 
of  both  of  whom  to  her  past  life  seemed  vague  just 
now,  though  they  were  undoubtedly  old  and  dear 
friends — she  would  hunt  them  up  and  talk  with 
them.  She  rose,  and  walked  out  unsteadily  upon 
the  veranda,  and  saw  Mr.  Carson  and  the  captain 
sitting  idly  just  beyond  earshot  of  the  cabin.  They 
came  to  her  respectfully. 

"I  came  out  to  thank  you,  sir,"  said  Virginia 
flightily,  "for  your  heroic  behavior — heroic,  ro 
mantic,  mediaeval  behavior!  Don't  my  eyes  look 
funny?" 

She  turned  up  her  face  to  his  appealingly,  her 
cheeks  flushed,  her  pupils  dilated. 

"I  beg  of  you  not  to  mention  it,  madam,"  urged 
Mr.  Carson,  with  infinite  solicitude.  "But  may  I 
not  insist  upon  your  allowing  me  to  escort  you  back 
to  your  room?" 

Virginia  took  his  arm,  leaning  upon  it  with  much 
of  her  not  inconsiderable  weight,  and  as  they  paced 
across  the  veranda,  with  a  mischievous  expression 
in  her  face,  she  whirled  him  off  into  a  few  turns  of 


26      VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

a  waltz.  Suddenly  grave,  she  then  resumed  the 
march  into  the  cabin,  exhibiting  every  sign  of  weak 
ness  in  the  knees.  Carson  was  pale  with  anxiety 
at  these  symptoms,  so  at  variance  with  those 
expected. 

"Lovely  dance,"  she  said,  "lovely!  So  dear  of 
you !  I  could  waltz  for  ever — with  you !" 

"Thank  you,"  said  Theodore  gravely.  "It  would 
be  an  honah  beyond  estimation — " 

"But  just  a  little  teeney  bit  pokey  after  a  few 
centuries?"  she  queried  coquettishly. 

"Not  in  the  least!"  he  exclaimed  reassuringly. 
"Quite  the  contrary.  And  now,  may  I  beg  you  to 
lie  down  until  you  are  quite  restored?" 

Virginia  sat  upon  the  bed,  reached  down  to  lift 
her  skirts  with  the  upward  swing  of  her  feet  into 
the  position  for  reclining,  and  tumbled  into  the 
young  man's  arms  with  a  laugh.  She  knew  she 
was  doing  extraordinary  things,  but  did  not  care 
a  jot 

"So  awkward  of  me!"  she  said.  "But  you'll  for 
give  me?" 

"I  feel  sure,"  said  Carson,  looking  down  gravely, 
"that  if  you  would  compose  yourself  and  try  to 
sleep — " 

"If  some  one  would  sit  by  me,"  said  she.  "I'm 
perfectly  sure — sit  by  me,  and  hold  my  hand — " 

'Just  close  yo'  eyes,"  he  replied,  "and  if  you  don't 


A    HOSPITABLE    BA.NDIT  27 

drop  asleep,  I'll,  I'll —  At  present,  I  think  I'd 
better  read  to  you." 

"So  good  of  you,"  said  she.  "Intellectual  sopor 
ific.  That  looks  like  a  sleepy  book." 

"It  is,"  said  Carson,  taking  up  a  great  quarto 
volume.  "Let  me  read  on  from  where  I  stopped, 
chapter  four.  'In  most  dynamos — '  " 

"My  hand — ,"  said  she,  dropping  it  on  the 
blanket.  "It's  cold." 

Theodore  took  the  hand  a  moment — and  covered 
it  with  the  blanket. 

"That  doesn't  warm  it  much,"  said  she.  "I  think 
you're  funny!" 

"  'In  most  dynamos,' '  read  the  young  man 
hastily,  "  'the  principle  of  reduplication  is  involved ; 
that  is,  commencing  with  a  very  small  amount  of 
residual  magnetism  in  the  field-magnets,  the  in 
ductive  action  between  them  and  the  revolving 
armature  results  in  the  production  of  a  feeble 
current — '  " 

"Feeble  magnetism,"  said  the  girl,  opening  her 
eyes  and  looking  at  him  with  sleepy  reproach. 
"Quite  so!" 

"  ' — a  feeble  current  in  the  coils/  "  read  Theodore 
stolidly.  "  'The  current  may  be  made  to  pass 
through — '  "  And  he  plodded  on  and  on,  never  lift 
ing  his  eyes.,  reading  of  compound-wound,  series- 
wound  and  shunt-wound  dynamos,  until  Captain 


28      VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

Harrod,  tiptoeing  in,  found  Virginia  asleep,  and 
took  away  the  book. 

Theodore  rose  in  relief  at  this  respite  from  the 
problem  of  the  sky-maiden,  darkened  the  windows, 
and  went  out. 

"Have you  any  game  in  the  larder?"  he  asked. 

"All  them  partridges  you  shot  last  night,  suh," 
replied  the  captain. 

The  "partridges"  were  plump  little  bob-whites  of 
the  rosemary  scrub,  fat  by  feeding  on  the  small, 
oily,  yellow  berries.  The  two  men  dressed  them  in 
silence. 

"She'll  be  shipshape  when  she  wakes  up,"  said 
the  captain,  at  last 

"I  hope  and  pray  she  may.  She  was  quite  flighty. 
I'm  much  concerned  for  her,"  said  Carson. 

The  captain  for  some  time  maintained  a  pregnant 
silence. 

"You  don't  allow,  suh,"  said  he  at  last,  "that  it's 
that  redeye  that  ails  huh?" 

"Captain,"  said  Theodore  sternly,  "any  gentle 
man  can  see  that  this  young  girl  is  a  lady !  I  beg 
to  remind  you  that  a  lady  does  not  take  more  liquor 
under  any  circumstances  than  what  may  be  necessary 
gently  to  restore  the  weakened  faculties — and  I 
hope  you  will  forgive  a  young  man  for  saying  so 
much  to  an  older  one!" 


A    HOSPITABLE    BANDIT  29 

"Ah  reckon  yo'  raght,  suh,"  said  the  captain. 
"An'  please  excuse  me!" 

Their  cookery  was  an  operation  in  progressive 
broth-making.  Theodore  made  broth  of  one  quail, 
peeped  in  to  see  if  his  guest  were  awake,  served  the 
broth  to  the  captain,  and  made  more.  The  sun 
wore  to  the  west,  the  last  quail  was  cooked,  the 
captain  was  providently  gorged  with  alternate 
courses  of  bird  and  broth,  when  Virginia,  very 
stately  and  very  reserved,  opened  the  door  and 
walked  out  upon  the  gallery.  Carson  shrank  back 
into  the  kitchen  and  shoved  the  captain  into  the 
breach. 

"How  do  you  do,  ma'am?"  he  inquired  solicit 
ously.  "Ah  sho'  hope  yo'  bette'  aftah  yo'  sleep." 

"Much  better,  thank  you,"  she  replied. 

"We  have  some  pahtridge  broth,  ma'am,"  he  went 
on,  "with  rice;  and  a  baked  yam;  and  a  planked 
green  trout  from  the  lake  back  hyah;  and  some 
coffee.  Sit  down,  ma'am,  and  Ah'll  suhve  it" 

The  little  table  was  spread  on  the  gallery,  its  top 
made  of  the  head  of  a  derelict  cask,  its  legs  of  bar 
nacled  sections  of  a  boom.  Virginia's  head  ached 
in  dreadful  similitude  to  the  traditional  feeling  of 
the  morning  after;  but  the  coffee  fragrance  was 
pleasant. 

"You  are  too  good,"  said  she,  accepting  the  chair. 


30      VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

"I  shall  be  glad  to  eat  a  little.  Where  is  your — 
your  friend?" 

"He's  som'eres  about,"  replied  the  captain.  "Ah 
really  don't  know,  ma'am.  Won't  you  please  take 
yo'  coffee?" 

The  coffee  was  black  and  strong;  the  broth  was 
a  temptation,  and  she  sipped  with  increasing  appe 
tite.  Buttered  yam  and  planked  trout  brought  the 
meal  to  a  triumphant  end,  with  the  world  not  such 
a  chamber  of  wild  horrors  as  it  had  seemed  when 
she  had  awakened.  Yet  where  was  she,  and  how 
should  she  depart?  Where  was  the  Roc?  Who 
were  these  men?  The  guns,  the  brass  instruments 
that  looked  as  if  they  pertained  to  navigation,  the 
big  windowless  shed,  all  suggested  things  nautical, 
bold  and  nefarious.  The  kindness  and  courtesy  of 
the  rough-looking  fellows  reassured  her  as  to  her 
personal  safety.  Yet  if  they  were  smugglers  or 
freebooters,  how  could  they  safely  return  her  to  the 
civilization  of  coast-guards  and  constables?  It 
was  deliciously  romantic — but  how  creepy!  There 
was  a  horde  of  them;  and  this  pretty  boy  was  too 
young  to  control  their  turbulence.  The  blacka vised 
captain  with  the  red  sash — necessary  to  the  color- 
scheme — would  be  less  deferential  than  this  girl- 
faced  lieutenant  (he  must  be  lieutenant)  with  his 
meticulously  proper  attitude.  Far  less ! 

The  red-faced  captain  was  habitually  "maddened 


A    HOSPITABLE    BANDIT  31 

with  drink"  and  always  roared  to  the  pretty  girl 
captive,  "Come  'ere,  my  pretty,  an'  give  us  a  kiss !" 

Silly,  but  it  made  her  heart  flutter  to  imagine  the 
motley  sea-rovers  with  blunderbusses  at  the  right 
shoulder  shift,  filing  toward  the  cabin.  The  lieu 
tenant  must  arrange  her  departure  at  once.  In  the 
midst  of  her  panic,  she  recalled  vaguely  the  influ 
ence  of  the  medicine,  her  waltz  with  the  lieutenant, 
the  holding  of  her  hand,  and  the  shunt-wound  dy 
namos.  Were  these  things  true,  or  fragments  of  a 
wild  dream?  Now  if  there  be  added  to  visions  of 
leering  pirate  captains,  a  hot  and  cold  and  shivery 
feeling  arising  from  the  conviction  that  one  has 
done  something  horrid,  Virginia's  impulse  to  see 
the  young  robber  and  end  the  idyl  for  ever  may  be 
accounted  for.  She  turned  to  Captain  Harrod  with 
an  expression  so  agitated  that  he  was  somewhat 
startled. 

"I  wish  you  would  say  to  the  lieutenant,"  said 
she,  "that  I  must  see  him  at  once  if  possible." 

The  fisherman  analyzed  this  speech  for  perhaps  a 
minute,  in  absolute  silence.  Then  he  said,  "Yes, 
ma'am,"  and  instantly  produced  Carson,  who,  so 
far  as  Virginia  could  judge,  had  been  within  the 
captain's  sight  when  she  had  been  assured  that  his 
whereabouts  were  unknown.  This  was  felonious 
and  covert-looking.  She  must  fly  this  lonely  shore. 

"You  are,"  said  the  young  man,  avoiding  any 


• 
32      VIRGINIA    OF   THE    AIR    LANES 

reference  to  her  recovery,  "doubtless  wondering 
where  your  companions  may  be,  and  thinking  it 
strange  that  they  have  not  returned?" 

"It  is  strange,"  said  she.  "Something  must  have 
happened  to  the  engines." 

"No,"  said  Theodore,  "not  that.  They  all  but 
blew  out  to  sea.  They  simply  had  to  fight  their  way 
off  toward  Pensacola,  where  they  must  have  made 
harbor.  It  was  almost  half  a  gale." 

"And  so — they  went — and  left  me?" 

"They  really  couldn't  help  it,"  urged  the  young 
man. 

"It  shows  the  sort  of  man  Silberberg  is,"  she 
cried  hotly,  "and — " 

"Quite  so,"  assented  Theodore.  "And  yet,  in 
the  present  state  of  the  art,  the  aeronat  will  not 
allow  you  to  do  quite  as  you  would,  especially  on  a 
lee  shore  off  a  thousand  miles  of  open  sea,  you  know, 
with  a  good  deal  more  than  a  capful  of  wind.  They 
really  could  not  be  expected — " 

Virginia  silenced  him  with  a  gesture  in  which 
dissent  was  mingled  with  emphatic  dismissal  of  the 
subject 

"And  now,"  said  she,  "perhaps  you  will  be  so 
good  as  to  help  me  to  some  conveyance  to  Mobile?" 

"I  have  a  boat  on  the  lake,"  said  Carson,  "half 
a  mile  inland.  There  is  a  channel  to  Palmetto 
Beach.  The  boat  and  crew  are  at  your  service." 


A    HOSPITABLE    BANDIT  33 

"I  should  prefer  to  walk,  if  you  please,"  said 
she. 

"Unless  you  have  a  day  or  two  to  spend  in  the 
journey,  I  should  not  recommend  the  attempt." 

"I  know  some  people,"  said  she,  "at  the  Yupon 
Hedge  Inn  at  Palmetto  Beach.  Can  you — " 

"If  we  go  at  once,"  he  replied,  "you  may  be 
there  for  dinner." 

"I  am  ready,"  said  she,  rising.  "Let  us  go, 
please,  immediately." 

There  were  few  preparations  to  make.  Captain 
Harrod  led  the  way,  easterly  alongshore  to  a  spot 
where  the  scrub  grew  well  down  toward  the  beaten 
beach.  A  long  square-hewn  timber  lay  half-rotted 
and  sunk  in  the  sand ;  and  on  this,  like  persons  striv 
ing  to  conceal  their  trail,  they  walked  back  between 
clumps  of  dark-green  rosemary,  over  a  low  place  in 
the  dunes,  down  to  the  dry,  hard  bottom  of  a  former 
pool,  under  a  thicket  of  scrub-oaks  so  dense  that  the 
Roc  or  any  of  her  tribe  might  have  scouted  for  them 
in  vain,  among  black  ponds  fringed  with  wiry  bent- 
grass,  past  ghostly  clumps  of  tall  pines,  and,  finally, 
through  a  dense  tangle  of  persimmon,  palmetto, 
thorny  "hack-and-be-damned"  and  low-growing 
cedar,  they  emerged  upon  a  little  north-looking 
hillock  crowned  with  magnolias,  cedars,  hickories 
and  live-oaks,  and  looked  forth  upon  a  strange  tarn 
of  inky  water,  ridging  somberly  in  the  north  wind, 


34      VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

its  black  waves  crested  with  foam,  like  white  plumes 
on  funeral  crape.  The  shores  of  this  sinister  lake 
were  densely  wooded  by  sullen  ranks  of  pines  and 
cypresses  standing  like  sour-faced  soldiery  knee- 
deep  in  swamp.  Virginia  gasped  at  sight  of  the 
somber  mere — it  seemed  such  an  eery  spot  in  which 
to  be  cast  away  with  these  strange  men  who  lived 
behind  closed  doors  and  walked  the  sands  so  as  to 
leave  no  footprints.  Surely,  her  worst  suspicions 

"Haul  out  the  launch,  Captain." 

Why  was  the  trim,  speedy-looking  launch  so  com 
pletely  hidden  in  the  tall  cane?  The  puldoos 
puddling  in  the  reeds  made  sounds  like  prowling 
accomplices.  Virginia  was  trembling  to  be  off  as 
Carson  went  aboard  and  inspected  the  engines  with 
the  air  of  an  expert. 

"And  now,  madam,"  said  he,  "if  you  will  do  me 
the  honor  to  step  aboard — " 

She  turned  to  the  captain  who,  holding  the 
painter,  stood  with  one  bare  foot  in  the  water,  the 
other  planted  hardily  among  the  sharp  shells  on 
shore. 

"I  want  to  thank  you,"  said  she,  offering  him 
her  hand,  "for  your  delicious  cookery — and  all 
your  kindness  to  me." 

"Yo'  kindly  welcome,"  returned  the  captain, 
bowing  over  her  hand.  "It's  been  a  pleasu'  an'  a 


A    HOSPITABLE    BANDIT  35 

privilege  to  suhve  you,  ma'am;  but  the  cookin' 
wasn't  mine,  ma'am." 

"It  was  delicious,  whosever  it  was,"  she  said, 
throwing  a  little  smile  at  Mr.  Carson. 

"Ah'm  sorry,"  resumed  the  captain,  "about  that 

'ere  medicine.      If  it  seemed  a  leetle  too  strong 
» 

Miss  Suarez,  remembering  the  waltz,  swept 
haughtily  to  her  place  in  the  boat.  Carson,  with 
his  eye  steadfastly  fixed  on  his  engine,  quickly 
shoved  off. 

"Evenin'  to  yeh,"  said  the  captain,  still  with  one 
foot  in  the  water,  like  a  heron. 

"Good  evening,"  responded  the  young  man. 

Virginia  said  nothing.  Carson,  stealing  a  look 
at  her,  saw  the  flush  dying  out  upon  her  face  and  a 
smile  taking  its  place — a  dimpling,  spasmodic 
smile,  accompanied  by  little  quick  dilations  of  the 
nostrils,  as  if  Miss  Suarez  was  desirous  of  indulging 
in  a  laugh,  but  saw  no  citable  reason  for  so  doing. 
She  waved  her  handkerchief  at  the  captain. 

"Do  you  see,"  said  Carson,  pointing  to  the  re 
ceding  shore,  "that  the  little  hill  at  the  landing  is 
just  a  mass  of  shells?" 

"Why,  so  it  is,  I  believe,"  she  exclaimed.  "How 
came  so  many  there?" 

"It's  a  prehistoric  kitchen-midden,"  said  this 
most  extraordinary  young  pirate.  "So  many  peo- 


36      VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

pie  lived  there  that  they  literally  made  a  hill  of  the 
shells  of  the  mollusks  they  ate." 

"Indeed!"  ejaculated  Virginia,  and  after  a  long 
pause  she  added,  "how  odd!" 

Mentally,  her  speech  was:  "How  odd  that  this 
young  outcast  should  know  about  archaeology — or 
is  it  palaeontology?"  It  was  easy  to  study  him,  he 
looked  so  religiously  away  from  her.  He  was  rather 
interesting.  If  she  really  had  said  those  things  to 
him,  and  waltzed  with  him,  what  a  dreadful  thing 
it  was !  But  how  much  more  fine  and  chivalrous  he 
had  been,  in  view  of  her  own  behavior.  Of  course, 
if  he  was  a  criminal — one  owed  a  duty  to  society; 
but  ought  she  to  allow  him  to  enter  the  radius  of 
action  of  the  authorities  ?  He  must  be  more  sinned 
against  by  society  than  sinning — his  profile  was  so 
perfect — and  how  fine  and  soft  his  mustache 
looked!  How  different  from  Silberberg  he  was  in 
every  way,  especially  in  his  attitude  toward  girls. 
Society  be  plagued !  She  would  be  perfectly  silent 
as  to  the  cabin  in  the  dunes,  and  she  would  never, 
never,  give  evidence  against  these  people.  She 
would  refuse  to  know  their  names,  and  refuse  to 
testify.  There!  She  was  in  a  fine  flush  of  defi 
ance  as  she  heard  Carson  finishing  some  further 
observation  about  the  shell-mounds. 

"Down  along  the  Lagoon,"  he  said,  "the  shells  are 
those  of  oysters,  prehistoric  like  these.  At  Strong's 


A    HOSPITABLE    BANDIT  37 

Bayou  they  are  twenty  feet  deep.  What  hosts  of 
inhabitants !" 

"Tremendous  hosts,"  assented  Virginia,  who  had 
just  defied  the  courts,  "to  be  so  deep." 

"I  mean  the  savages,"  he  explained. 

"To  be  sure,"  she  ejaculated.  "What  dreadfully 
deep  creatures  they  are!  One  learns  that  from 
Cooper." 

"But  back  where  we  started,"  he  went  on,  hoping 
for  a  painless  adjustment  of  her  ideas  to  his — "back 
where  we  started,  they  were  clams." 

"The — the  people?"  she  inquired  hesitantly,  "or 
—or  what?" 

"I  was  referring  to  the  shell-fish/'  said  he  with 
a  little  stiffness,  arising  from  doubts  as  to  whether 
she  might  not  be  making  game  of  him.  "But  in 
this  little  sea,  it  is  hard  to  talk  connectedly  and 
manage  the  launch." 

"That  isn't  it  at  all,"  she  replied.  "Your  class 
wasn't  paying  the  slightest  attention.  Pardon  me." 

He  threw  over  the  tiller  to  round  into  a  little 
reedy  cove;  but  instead  of  running  ashore  he  en 
tered  a  narrow  creek  which  he  followed  through 
such  amazing  tortuosities  that  the  sun,  low  in  the 
west,  was  now  on  the  right,  now  on  the  left,  some 
times  astern,  and  again  dead  ahead.  An  indolent 
current  flowed  with  their  course,  its  water  ruddy  and 
clear  like  wine,  and  beautifully  placid  save  where 


38      VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

touched  by  the  dying  wind.  Tasseled  reeds  cut  off 
the  horizon,  and  at  no  time  was  anything  to  be 
seen  but  the  reeds,  the  water,  the  aquatic  birds  that 
flew  off  like  figures  from  a  Japanese  screen,  the 
silent  little  launch,  and  the  young  and  interesting 
outlaw  with  whom  she  seemed  to  have  entered  into 
a  new  world  consisting  of  a  labyrinth  as  complex 
as  that  of  Crete,  from  which,  so  far  as  she  could 
see,  there  was  no  escape. 

The  reeds  beside  the  lazy  stream  shivered  with 
the  motion  of  scampering  fish;  and  when  the  boat 
entered  the  still  ponds,  strung  on  the  tiny  waterway, 
like  beads  on  a  cord,  the  glassy  surface  would  sud 
denly  bulge  up  into  swift,  shining  swells,  as  the 
finny  giants  took  flight.  How  beautiful  it  was,  she 
thought,  the  perfection  of  marshy  loveliness! 

"I'm  having,"  said  she,  "a  perfectly  delightful 
time!" 

"I  am  very,  very  glad,"  said  he. 

Lily  pads  now  rose  and  fell  in  the  wakes  of  fish 
and  boat — great  green  disks  with  no  notch  in  their 
sides  for  the  stem,  but  only  a  slit,  as  if  nature  had 
used  a  pair  of  scissors  and  made  but  one  snip  at 
it.  Negotiating  a  passage  so  narrow  that  the  strakes 
of  the  launch  softly  scraped  both  rooty  shores,  they 
emerged  into  a  lakelet  not  much  larger  than  a  good- 
sized  theater,  which  was  quite  green  with  the  float 
ing  leaves,  like  a  rich,  flat  meadow.  And  over  there 


A    HOSPITABLE    BANDIT  39 

were  one,  two,  three,  a  dozen  blooms — waxy, 
creamy,  pure,  and  sedately  beautiful. 

"Oh!"  cried  Virginia.     "How  exquisite!" 

Carson  cruised  about  and  piratically  robbed  the 
pond  of  every  blossom. 

"They  are  smaller  than  the  northern  lilies,"  said 
he,  "and  they  have  little  fragrance;  but  I  love  them 
all  the  better." 

"They  are  daintier,"  she  said,  "and  not  so  pro 
nounced." 

"Like  the  southern  girls,"  said  he. 

"I'm  a  southern  girl,"  said  she,  "if  I  am  a  north 
ern  tourist." 

"I  knew  that,"  he  replied.    "I  had  that  in  mind." 

This  talk  was  verging  upon  the  personal,  and 
therefore  to  be  discouraged.  How  keenly  observing 
he  must  be  to  detect  in  her  cosmopolitan  English 
the  old  Alabama  accent!  She  supposed  herself  to 
be  quite  rid  of  it.  His  own  occasional  and  incon 
sistent  lapses  into  ultra-softness  of  intonation  seemed 
quite  like  dialect  to  her.  He  waxed  more  and  more 
interesting.  Surely,  surely,  he  was  not  so  very 
much  worse,  at  heart,  with  his  love  of  flowers  and 
his  chivalrous  delicacy,  than  some  people  in — in 
other  walks  of  life.  She  was  quite  recovered  from 
her  alarm,  quite  in  control  of  the  situation  now, 
snuggling  bewitchingly  down  and  looking  at  her 
lilies,  as  they  emerged  from  the  Narrows  and  shot 


40      VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

out  into  the  Lagoon,  the  blue  waves  of  which  had 
subsided  into  round-rolling  short  swells. 

"Good-by,"  cried  Virginia,  looking  back  into  the 
enchanted  marsh.  "Good-by!  This  is  the  world 
again !" 

Carson  was  looking  the  other  way  with  less  per 
sistence  now.  There  was  something  mysterious  in 
the  charm  of  this  girl's  manner.  Her  good-by  to 
the  Narrows  seemed  a  subtle  rapprochement  to 
him.  They  were  in  the  world,  and  therefore — 
figuratively — she  let  him  come  closer. 

The  lights  of  the  hotels  and  villas  along  the 
north  shore  swept  by  them  in  a  panorama  of  fairy 
illuminations.  A  great  tow-boat  slowly  pushed  its 
two  acres  of  barges  toward  Mobile  from  the  Per- 
dido  Bay  inner  passage.  The  Lagoon  was  rilled 
with  launches.  The  evening  had  so  far^grown 
quiet  that  the  air-ships  had  come  out,  sweeping  the 
skies  like  enormous  phosphorescent  insects.  From 
a  hundred  yards  overhead  fell  the  twangling  of  a 
banjo  and  the  voice  of  a  tenor  in  full  song.  Vir 
ginia,  whose  glances  at  her  robber  had  been  extra- 
hazardous  recently,  because  more  likely  to  meet  his, 
could  safely  look  at  him  again,  absorbed  as  he  was 
in  the  management  of  his  craft.  He  stood  up  once, 
lithe  and  graceful  as  a  leopard,  and,  after  scrutiniz 
ing  an  approaching  sloop,  sheered  off,  saying  that 
there  was  better  water  to  port.  He  was  evading 


A    HOSPITABLE    BANDIT  41 

detection,  she  thought;  and  she  felt  companionably 
furtive  and  guilty. 

"We  have  been  very  impersonal,"  said  he.  "May 
I  introduce  myself?  My  name  is — " 

"Oh,  please  don't !"  she  exclaimed.  "Forgive  me, 
but  I'd  rather  not  know." 

"It  is  mo'  interesting,"  said  he,  with  a  slow  smile, 
"not  to  know.  I  shall  always  think  of  you  as — " 

"As  the  girl  from  Mars,"  she  suggested.  "I 
came  tumbling  down  to  you  in  a  heap,  out  of  the 
sky." 

"Hardly  from  Mars,"  he  demurred.  "More  prop 
erly,  from  Venus." 

"I  don't  like  that  very  well,"  she  protested. 

"There's  Andromeda,"  he  suggested. 

"Too  tragic,"  she  said.     "And  too  far  off." 

"Then  the  Pleiades  are  eliminated,"  Carson  went 
on. 

"Quite  so,"  she  assented.  "There's  only  one  of 
me,  and — " 

"And  there  will  never  be  another!"  he  rejoined. 

No  answer  to  this  little  gush  seemed  either  de 
manded  or  available.  So  Virginia  merely  shook 
her  head. 

"I  struck  like  a  comet,"  said  she;  "but  they  all 
have  numbers,  don't  they — or  those  funny  little 
cuneiform  symbols?" 

"Isn't    there    an    asteroid    named    Psyche?"    he 


42      VIRGINIA    OF   THE    AIR    LANES 

inquired.  "I'm  going  to  assume  that  there  is,  and 
name  you  after  that." 

"A  purely  telescopic  star — " 

"Because  of  its  distance,  only,  Psyche." 

"A  little  body  whirled  about  among  the  great 
ones,  because  it  can't  help  it.  I  believe — " 

"And  I  shall  not  have  the  satisfaction,  unless  it 
sends  me  word,  of  knowing  whether  it  actually  ex 
ists  or  not,"  said  he  meaningly. 

"And  of  course,"  she  said,  "Psyche  will  have 
neither  the  means  nor  the  inclination  to  enter  into 
communion  with — with  any  one  on  this  mundane 
globule.  What  shore  is  this?" 

Theodore  was  mute,  rebuffed,  silenced.  She  re 
peated  quite  blandly  her  inquiry  about  the  shore, 
into  which  they  seemed  about  to  dash  headlong. 

"It's  where  we  enter  the  canal,"  said  he,  rather 
sulkily.  "The  Eastern  Inner  Passage,  you  know." 

"There's  something  I  want  to  say  to  you,"  said 
she,  as  they  approached  the  entrance.  "Do  you 
feel  quite  free  to  visit  the  hotels  with  their  lights, 
their  crowds,  and — isn't  there  any  danger?" 

Theodore  sat  in  silence  while  he  steered  into  the 
canal,  as  if  totally  at  a  loss  to  guess  her  meaning. 

"If  you  would  prefer,"  said  he,  as  if  at  last  he 
had  the  clue,  "not  to  be  seen  with — " 

"Oh,  no,  no,  no,  no!"  she  cried.     "Plow  can  you 


A    HOSPITABLE    BANDIT  43 

be  so  cruel!  I  meant  .  .  .  Oh,  you  are 
cruel!" 

Her  protest  rang  back  from  the  TOWS  of  dark 
magnolias,  under  which  he  was  guiding  the  launch, 
a  protest  of  perfect  and  pained  sincerity. 

"I  beg  your  pardon,  Psyche,"  said  he.  "I  did 
not  understand.  We  will  go  on  to  the  beach." 

"Thank  you,"  said  the  girl.  "I  thought  only  of 
your  safety." 

"Ah!"  he  said.     "It's  quite  too  late  for  that!" 

"If  anything  happens  to  you,"  said  she,  "I  shall 
never  forgive  myself.  Listen,  my  dear  friend.  I 
think  that  no  girl  was  ever  so  beautifully  treated. 
You  and  the  captain  have  been  perfect,  absolutely 
perfect.  I — I  can't  tell  you  what  the  beautiful 
things  were;  and  I  know  that  neither  of  you  will 
ever  know.  That's  what  makes  it  so  fine.  If  you 
were  a  girl,  and  had  lived  for  years  where  I  have 
lived,  you'd  know,  though,  and  you'd  thrill  with 
admiration  for  the  men  who  are,  are — immense 
enough  to  act  so !  There !" 

The  boat  quietly  passed  out  across  the  woven 
threads  of  light  that  webbed  the  water  from  a  thou 
sand  points  about  Strong's  Bayou,  and  gently  came 
to  at  the  dock  of  the  Yupon  Hedge  Inn.  The 
promenades  were  crowded  with  people  in  evening 
clothes,  and  waiters  with  trays.  It  was  a  gay  scene, 


44      VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

and  Carson  felt  the  pull  of  it  as  they  stepped 
ashore. 

"Can  I  do  anything  mo'  for  you?"  he  asked. 

"No,  no,  you  must  go  now!  But  thank  you  a 
thousand  times!"  said  she.  "I'm  just  a  little  no 
body,  or  I'd  say  to  you  that  if  ever  you  need  a 
friend—" 

"Your  mentioning  it  will  be  joy  enough  for  me," 
said  he. 

She  put  out  her  hand,  walking  up  close,  looking 
into  his  face  gratefully.  She  was  astonished  to 
see  how  white  and  set  his  features  were;  he  thrilled 
to  feel  that  her  hand  trembled  in  his,  and  was 
touched  to  note  the  moisture  that  filled  her  eyes  as 
she  poured  forth  her  little  oration  of  gratitude. 

"You  are  agitated,"  said  she,  "you  are  in  danger. 
Go,  with  my  best  wishes  for  your  escape  and  safe 
return  to  your  company !" 

"Phyche,"  said  he  fervently,  "your  God-speed 
and  your  anxiety  make  me  happy;  but  I  fear  it  is 
too  late.  I  shall  never  escape,  Psyche,  from  the 
toils  you  have  lured  me  into,  never!" 

She  looked  about  for  the  slouching  form  of  the 
officer  she  feared;  but  she  saw  no  one  except  tour 
ists  in  nautical  or  aeronautical  toggery,  coming 
down  the  wharf.  She  was  in  an  agony  of  ter 
ror  for  him.  He  pressed  her  hands  convulsively, 
she  returning  the  pressure,  and  begging  him  again 


A    HOSPITABLE    BANDIT  45 

to  go.  He  carried  her  hands  to  his  lips,  kissed  them 
passionately,  and  leaped  into  the  boat.  Virginia 
watched  him  amazedly  as  he  darted  away  like  a 
frightened  tarpon,  not  toward  his  cabin  in  the 
dunes,  but  out  through  the  entrance  of  the  bayou 
and  off  across  the  Bay  toward  Point  Clear.  One 
more  mystery  to  ponder  over,  when  thinking  of  her 
mysterious  malefactor. 


CHAPTER    III 
CARSON'S  LANDING 

IT  has  always  been  a  point  of  genealogical  dis 
pute  as  to  whether  or  not  Theodore  Carson's 
father  was  of  kin  to  the  founder  of  the  old 
Carson  place  up  Fish  River.     It  was  one  of  those 
controversies  in  which  one  side  is  supposed  to  be 
trying  to  climb,  the  other  to  be  oblivious  of  the 
climbing,  and  both  are  in  a  position  of  peculiar 
delicacy  from  the  fact  that  they  are  all  Americans, 
and  disbelievers  in  anything  like  inherited  rank. 

General  Carson,  in  his  lean  years,  used  to  sell 
turpentine  to  his  namesake  at  the  dingy  ship- 
chandlery  on  the  wharf  near  the  Eslava  Street 
oyster  dock.  On  these  commercial  occasions,  the 
general,  when  mellowed  by  juleps,  with  his  foot 
on  the  brass  rail  and  his  elbows  on  the  bar,  used 
to  call  the  ship-chandler  "cousin."  At  other  times, 
however,  he  made  no  bones  of  his  opinion  that  the 
Mobile  Carsonses  were  damned  common  people, 
and  branded  as  impudent  any  fool  claim  of  kinship 
between  the  humble  tradesman  and  the  Carsonses 

46 


CARSON'S    LANDING  47 

of  Marengo  County.  The  ship-chandler  was  too 
proud  to  make  any  claim,  but  privately  believed  in 
the  kinship  theory ;  and  when  the  general  died,  hav 
ing  lost  his  Marengo  estates  in  trying  to  breed  the 
one-fifty  trotter,  it  was  discovered  that  he  owed  the 
ship-chandler  on  mortgage  more  than  the  value  of 
the  Fish  River  plantation,  which  passed  to  the  re 
jected  branch  of  the  Carsonses.  Theodore's  father, 
delighted  to  have  come  into  what  he  felt  to  be  his 
own,  rode  his  horse  through  the  cut-over  waste 
clinging  to  the  horse's  mane  and  feeling  like  a 
rightful  heir  reinstated;  and  accepting  the  obliga 
tion  to  restore  the  glories  of  the  family,  he  em 
barked  so  unreservedly  and  unskilfully  upon  the 
development  of  a  cotton  plantation  according  to  the 
general's  plans,  that  Theodore  fell  heir,  at  his 
father's  death,  to  nothing  but  this  waste  of  second- 
growth  pine,  scarcely  self-sustaining,  and  a  policy 
of  life  insurance,  which  he  invested  in  such  edu 
cation  as  he  most  desired,  a  combination  of  elec 
trical  engineering  and  mechanics.  He  was  a  little 
bitter  sometimes  as  he  recalled  the  phantoms,  the 
pursuit  of  which  had  ruined  two  successive  owners 
of  the  estate:  the  general's  breeding  maggot,  and 
his  father's  curious  pride  in  a  mere  name.  Where 
upon  he  gave  chase  to  a  phantom  of  his  own,  with 
what  success  we  shall  see,  and  followed  what  his 
friends  called  a  rainbow,  with  such  true  Carson  en- 


48      VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

thusiasm,  that  when  he  left  Virginia  Suarez  on  the 
dock  at  Strong's  Bayou,  on  that  sandy,  deliciously 
dreamy,  southern  shore  of  Mobile  Bay,  he  steered 
through  the  night  for  a  house  very  nearly  disman 
tled,  on  an  estate  growing  up  to  persimmon  thick 
ets,  dewberry  beds  and  palmetto  slashes,  the  very 
title  to  which  was  about  to  pass  to  his  creditors. 
His  ignis  fatuus  was  in  the  cabin  among  the  Gulf 
Beach  dunes;  but  neither  that,  nor  the  precarious 
state  of  his  fortunes  could  account  for  his  alternate 
joy  and  gloom  as  he  fared  north  in  the  night.  The 
sky-maiden  was  the  thing  that  really  mattered. 

A  gray  dawn  was  broadening  into  morning  as 
he  approached  his  own  landing;  and  the  chill  was 
one  to  make  the  wanderer  long  for  warm  blankets 
and  a  wisp  of  flame  in  the  grate ;  but  Theodore  sat 
on  the  wharf  thinking,  though  his  bed  was  within 
five  minutes'  walk.  Who  was  the  young  woman 
who  had  so  strangely  fallen  from  the  clouds  at  his 
feet?  What  had  become  of  the  great  air-ship  from 
the  deck  of  which  she  had  flown  in  that  little  flying 
machine  of  the  management  of  which  she  seemed 
to  have  no  knowledge?  Why  had  she  refused  to 
learn  his  name,  and  concealed  her  own?  Whose 
air-ship  was  it  from  which  she  had  been  lost  over 
board,  and  who  was  the  girl? 

He  wondered  whether  her  people  knew  of  the 
chance  by  which  he  and  Captain  Harrod  had  res- 


CARSON'S    LANDING  49 

cued  the  fair  castaway.  Probably  they  believed  her 
lost.  The  helicopter  had  scarcely  paused  when  she 
struck  the  dune,  but  had  shot  out  over  the  Gulf 
like  a  flying  gull.  They  must  mourn  the  girl  as 
lost.  Doubtless  they  were  filling  the  air  with  wire 
less  messages  from  Pensacola,  calling  upon  vessels 
to  look  out  for  a  runaway  helicopter  carrying  a 
young  girl  to  her  death  in  the  warm  waters  of  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  somewhere  off  at  the  limit  of  the 
flying-machine's  radius  of  action.  As  in  formal 
duty  bound,  they  would,  no  doubt,  soon  return  to 
the  place  where  they  had  seen  her  last,  and  make 
hopeless  search.  They  would  be  likely  to  be  seen 
of  Captain  Harrod,  and  to  see  him.  Theodore, 
trusting  the  old  fisherman  to  preserve  the  secret 
of  the  hidden  cabin,  dismissed  the  matter  from  his 
mind  and  went  into  his  house,  where  a  colored 
mammy  was  shuffling  leisurely  about,  but  assumed 
an  ant-like  activity  at  his  demand  for  breakfast. 

But  if  he  was  so  hungry,  why,  she  thought,  did 
he  let  her  delicious  coffee  grow  cold,  slight  her 
omelette  and  hot  corn-pone,  and  neglect  the  fresh 
dewberries  and  cream?  He  sat  there,  building  air- 
castles  in  true  Carson  somnambulism.  He  had, 
like  the  old  general,  a  system  by  which  to  beat  the 
game — and  he  had  a  girl's  name  to  discover. 

The  Roc,  according  to  Theodore's  forecast,  came 


50      VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

coasting  back  in  the  same  tardy  dawn  that  lamped 
that  young  somnambulist  to  his  home.  Mr.  Silber- 
berg  lighted  and  smoked  countless  cigarettes.  Mr. 
Shayne  nervously  walked  the  deck  and  debated  the 
question  of  letting  Mrs.  Shayne  know  of  her  niece's 
tragic  death  at  once,  or  of  waiting  for  a  personal 
interview.  For  the  Roc  had  had  no  word  of  either 
the  helicopter  or  the  girl,  and  they  saw  no  gleam 
of  hope  for  her.  She  was  a  dependent,  and  some 
thing  of  a  problem  for  Mrs.  Shayne.  Any  ordinary 
circumstance  that  would  have  separated  the  aunt 
and  niece  would  not  have  been  mourned  inconsol- 
ably  by  either  of  them;  in  fact,  Mrs.  Shayne  had 
expressed  to  her  husband  some  wonder  as  to  what 
Silberberg  saw  in  the  girl ;  but  to  lose  her  like  this, 
with  all  the  unpleasant  publicity  of  the  terrible  af 
fair. 

"Marie  will  never  get  over  it,"  said  Shayne. 
"What  the  devil  ails  that  fellow  aft?" 

The  fellow  aft  was  Wizner,  inventor  of  the  lost 
helicopter,  discoursing  to  the  crew  in  pure  assorted 
maledictions,  which  he  heaped  on  all  concerned  in 
the  loss  of  his  machine.  This  got  upon  Mr. 
Shayne's  nerves  so  that  he  went  aft,  gave  him  a 
check  for  what  he  asked,  and  informed  him  that  un 
less  he  kept  still,  they  would  descend  and  put  him 
off  the  aeronat. 

They  crossed  Perdido  Bay,  passed  the  savannas 


CARSON'S    LANDING  51 

and  crawfish  meadows  and  cruised  about  aimlessly 
until  dawn.  The  light  found  them  far  down  toward 
the  Lagoon,  flying  high  for  safety  in  the  darkness. 
The  long,  straight  beach  lay  white,  cold-looking 
and  solitary  in  the  pure  light,  which  touched  the 
great  gas-holder  to  silver  while  the  earth  and  sea 
were  still  in  gloom.  Away  south  in  the  offing 
were  two  steamers,  and  from  the  wireless  overhead 
could  be  heard  the  discharges  by  which  the  operator 
was  making  a  last  despairing  effort  to  obtain  news 
of  the  lost  girl. 

"It's  not  far  from  here,"  said  Silberberg. 

"Oh,  we  haven't  come  nearly  far  enough,"  replied 
Shayne.  "We  began  preparing  the  helicopter  for 
the  test  between  Three  Rivers  and  Collins'  Bayou. 
That's  miles  and  miles  west." 

"But  we  were  coming  east,"  urged  Silberberg, 
"and  it  took  some  time." 

The  buzzer  from  the  engine-room  was  sprung 
with  a  sharp  rattle.  Mr.  Shayne  went  to  the  speak 
ing  tube. 

"We  all  think,  sir,"  said  the  engineer,  "that 
we've  about  reached  the  place  where  the  young  lady 
went  out  to  sea." 

"Mr.  Silberberg  thinks  so,  too,"  replied  Shayne; 
"but  I  think  it  was  west  of  here." 

"There's  a  man  on  the  beach,  sir,"  said  the  en 
gineer.  "Shall  we  speak  him?" 


52      VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

"Do,"  replied  Shayne.  "He  may  know  some 
thing." 

The  Roc  circled  about  like  an  alighting  swan,  all 
the  time  descending.  The  man  seated  himself  on 
a  log  to  await  her  libration.  Finally  she  paused 
above  him,  and  in  the  purr  of  the  leveling  screws 
Mr.  Shayne  spoke.  Had  he  seen  anything  of  a 
flying-machine  which  went  out  to  sea,  yesterday? 
Yes,  he  had. 

"It  was  raght  close  hyah,  suh,"  replied  Captain 
Harrod. 

"Did  you  see  the  young  lady?"  asked  Shayne. 

"Yes,  suh." 

"Was  she  still  clinging  to  the  helicopter  when 
you  last  saw  her?" 

"No,  suh,  she  wasn't  clingin'  to  nothing — with 
the  han'  to'ds  me — when  Ah  lost  sight  on  huh,  suh." 

"Let  down  the  lift,"  commanded  Mr.  Shayne; 
"I'm  going  down." 

The  three  men,  Shayne,  Silberberg  and  Wizner, 
gathered  about  the  fisherman  on  the  beach.  Cap 
tain  Harrod  seemed  busy  removing  the  sand  from 
between  his  toes  with  a  crooked  and  nodular  fore 
finger. 

"Do  you  think,"  queried  Silberberg,  "that  there 
is  the  slightest  chance  for  her  to — to  be  saved,  my 
good  man?" 


CARSON'S    LANDING  53 

"Was  the  helicopter — was  it  going  when  you 
last  saw  it?"  interrogated  Wizner,  "or  did  it  fall?" 

"Ah  think  the  lady  hez  a  chance  to  make  po't," 
replied  Harrod  calmly.  "An'  as  f'r  the  chicka- 
nanny  dingus  she  come  hyah  in,  the  last  Ah  seen 
of  it,  it  were  poppin'  to'ds  the  snapper-banks  raght 
peart." 

"  'It',"repeated  Shayne,  "  'it'  was  going!  Where 
was  she?  Tell  us  all  you  know." 

"Ah'm  a  raght  ig'nant  man,  an'  don't  know 
much,"  replied  the  captain ;  "but  Ah'm  slow  spoke, 
an'  it  would  take  a  half  houah  to  tell  all  Ah  knows 
( — gen'ly  speakin'.  But  if  it's  jist  about  the  young 
lady,  she  tumbled  out  on  the  sand,  in  fair  shape; 
an'  if  she's  made  good  weathah  she's  about  bo'din' 
the  boat  f'r  Mobile.  We  was  raght  proud  to  hev 
huh  as  ou'  guest!" 

"There !"  shouted  Wizner  triumphantly.  "Didn't 
I  tell  you  that  machine  would  stand  grief?  Struck 
the  ground — "  ( 

"Keep  out  of  this !"  commanded  Mr.  Shayne. 
"Was  she  hurt  seriously?" 

"But  I  say,  Mr.  Shayne,"  protested  Wizner, 
"don't  you  see  that  with  my  machine  you've  got 
the  business  coopered?  Put  your  money  on  the 
helicopters,and  you'll — " 

"Ah  you  Mr.  Shayne?"  inquired  the  captain. 


54      VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

"Yes,  yes,"  replied  Shayne;  "what  have  you  done 
with  her?" 

"A  gentleman  Ah'm  employed  by,"  replied  the 
captain,  "has  done  carried  huh  ove'  to  the  Inn. 
Axin'  yo'  pahdon,  ah  you  the  Mr.  Shayne  that's 
called  the  Prince  o'  the  Powers  of  the  Aiah  ?" 

"I  reckon  I  am,"  replied  Mr.  Shayne  irritably. 
"But  tell  us  of  the  rescue  of  this  dear  girl.  Tell 
us!" 

While  Silberberg  and  Shayne  listened,  Wizner 
began  scouting  up  and  down  the  beach.  Guided 
by  some  instinct  for  mischief  he  went  west,  and  as 
the  captain's  story  rambled  on,  he  scrutinized  the 
sands  for  traces  of  his  beloved  machine.  Harrod 
moved  uneasily  as  Wizner  paused  at  the  spot  where 
the  helicopter  struck,  examined  the  beach  tracks, 
and  passed  through  the  dunes  toward  the  cabin. 
Yet  he  finished  his  tale  unhurriedly,  and  placed 
the  whole  story  tardily  in  their  possession.  At 
once  they  signaled  the  Palmetto  Beach  wireless 
station,  and  in  a  moment  the  news  came  in  that 
Miss  Suarez  had  sent  messages  to  Mrs.  Shayne  that 
morning,  and  had  taken  an  early  boat  for  Mobile. 
Mr.  Shayne  grasped  the  hand  of  Mr.  Silberberg, 
who  sat  on  a  log,  burying  his  face  in  his  handker 
chief. 

"I  know  how  you  feel,  old  fellow,"  said  Shayne. 
"And  I  want  to  say  to  you,  my  good  man,  I  can't 


CARSON'S    LANDING  55 

repay  you,  you  know;  but  so  far  as  money  can  go, 
I  hope  you  will  ask,  or,  rather,  accept — " 

"Ah  couldn't  accept  anythin,  suh,"  said  the  cap 
tain;  "thank'ee  kindly.  But  maght  Ah  ask  whar 
you-all's  going  now?" 

"Straight  to  Mobile,"  replied  Mr.  Shayne; 
"why?" 

"Ah  unde'stand,"  went  on  the  captain,  "that  you 
ah  int' rested  in  all  sohts  of  flyin'  craft — aiah-ships, 
an'  flyin'  dinguses  lahk  what  the  young  lady  come 
in,  an'—" 

"Well,"  answered.  Mr.  Shayne,  laughing,  "not 
in  that  sort  any  more,  I  reckon;  but  I'm  supposed 
to  control  in  aeronautics,  if  that's  what  you  mean. 
Got  a  machine  that  solves  the  problem?  Most 
every  one  has." 

"No,  suh,"  replied  the  captain;  "but  a  friend  o' 
mine,  raght  on  yo'  way,  Ah'd  pow'ful  well  like  to 
hev  you  stop  by  an'  see.  He's  got  something.  If  he 
could  jist  git  yo'  attention  fo'  a  minute,  it  maght — 
It's  Mr.  Theodo',  my  employah." 

"The  gentleman  who  took  my  niece  to  the 
beach?" 

"Yes,  suh." 

"We  are  in  a  hurry,"  urged  Mr.  Shayne.  "We 
are  about  starting  for  Chicago.  Won't  any  other 
time  do?" 

"It's  raght  on  yo'  way,  suh,"  persisted  the  cap- 


56      VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

tain,  "an'  it's  all  the  favo'  Ah'll  ask  of  you-all. 
Ah  leave  it  to  you,  suh,  of  co'se;  but — " 

"Will  you  go  and  pilot  us  to  the  place?" 

"Ah  cain't  ve'y  well  leave  hyah,  suh,"  replied  the 
captain;  "but  if  yo'  pilot  knows  these  piny  woods 
as  well  as  he  orto  do,  suh — " 

"Come  and  tell  him  the  place,"  said  Shayne  in 
cisively.  "Toot  the  horn  for  Wizner,  up  there! 
Yes,  yes;  don't  say  any  more.  We'll  go.  But  I  tell 
you,  my  friend,  your  man  might  have  spent  a  lot 
of  car- fare  reaching  Finley  Shayne!" 

"Ah  reckon  that's  so,  suh,"  replied  the  captain, 
stepping  into  the  lift.  "He's  been  a-stud'in'  ve'y 
heavy  about  the  mattah,  suh,  fo'  a  long  tahm." 

In  that  era  of  the  changing  world,  dwellers  in  this 
land  of  sun  and  dream,  half  coastal  swamp,  half 
teeming  pleasure-ground,  were  much  habituated 
to  the  sight  of  aerial  craft  then  affected  by  the 
wealthy.  The  bicycle  long  ago  had  shown  the 
attractiveness  of  any  new  mode  of  ambulation. 
The  automobile,  following,  had  become  the  favor 
ite  extravagance  of  the  rich.  Vulgarized  by  com 
merce  and  trade,  this  was  in  turn  abandoned  by 
Dives,  who  now,  still  envied  by  Lazarus,  rose  above 
the  thronged  roads,  in  the  great  aerostats  of  the 
day.  The  discovery  of  the  methanose  mixture, 
with  ten  times  the  explosive  force  of  gasolene,  had 


CARSON'S    LANDING  57 

made  ascensional  and  depressive  screws  an  efficient 
adjunct  of  the  aeronat  with  its  barely  buoyant  gas 
bag;  and,  with  the  improved  propellers  which  fol 
lowed,  made  the  old-fashioned  "dirigible"  a  fairly 
dependable  craft  in  ordinary  weather.  It  was  along 
this  line,  rather  than  by  way  of  the  heavier-than-air 
aeronefs,  that  development  had  marched,  to  the 
enormous  enrichment  of  Finley  Shayne,  who  con 
trolled  the  Keewatin  methanose  marshes.  Even 
after  the  discovery  of  the  Alaskan  methanose  and 
the  loss  of  this  monopoly,  his  hold  on  the  industry 
by  patents  and  secret  processes  could  not  be  shaken 
off.  He  was  still  "The  Prince  of  the  Powers  of  the 
Air,"  and  it  was  of  him  that  Theodore  Carson 
thought  as  he  sat  on  the  columned  gallery  of  his 
house,  watching  the  far-off  aerial  monsters  that 
were  always  in  sight. 

His  barren  estate  lay  under  the  lane  between 
Pensacola  and  Mobile;  and  above  this  ran  the 
sparser  drift  from  Atlantic  and  Appalachian  forest 
points  to  the  Mississippi  Sound  resorts.  He  knew 
the  type  of  every  air-ship.  Most  of  these  huge 
objects  dropping  like  swifts  into  the  chimney  of  the 
aerial  harbor  at  Mobile,  were  Shayne's  Condors, 
of  which  the  Roc  was  the  type,  modeled  after  the 
early  creations  of  Count  Zeppelin.  The  smaller, 
quicker,  low-flying  ones  without  the  gas-holders, 
were  the  still  unsuccessful  aeronefs  of  the  Wright 


58      VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

and  Farman  types.  The  scene  was  varied  by  an 
occasional  orthopter  with  flapping  wings,  or  by 
helicopters,  on  each  of  which  Carson  looked  long 
ingly,  wishing  it  might  bring  again  the  treasure 
fetched  by  the  fugacious  machine  of  Mr.  Wizner. 
The  problem  of  life  was  in  these  various  vessels, 
and  he  studied  them  wistfully,  so  wistfully  that 
the  Roc's  wild  honk  sounded  thrice  before  he  heard 
it.  He  stepped  out  upon  the  Bermuda  grass,  saw 
a  retractile  telephone  spinning  down  from  the  great 
silver  fish  balanced  in  the  calm  sky,  caught  it  and 
put  it  to  his  ear. 

"O,  Aunt  Chloe,"  cried  he,  running  in  for  his 
hat  and  coat.  "Here's  some  one  above  the  house 
asking  for  me,  and  who  do  you  suppose  it  is?" 

"Mout  be  the  angel  Gab'el,"  replied  Chloe,  "f'm 
whah  he  is,  an'  de  way  he  blow  dat  ho'n ;  but  Ah 
reckon  it's  jes'  some  triflin'  sky-hooter.  Who  is 
dey?" 

"The  greatest  luck  you  ever  heard  of !"  cried  The 
odore.  "Where's  that  new  parachute?  Never 
mind,  I've  found  it." 

And  with  no  further  explanation,  Mr.  Theodore 
ran  out,  stepped  into  the  lift,  and  was  whisked  up 
to  the  Roc's  polished  deck  with  his  new  parachute 
over  his  shoulder. 

Mr.  Shayne  met  him  with  something  less  than 
the  steely  coldness  with  which  he  was  wont  to 


CARSON'S    LANDING  59 

freeze  the  vitals  of  the  man  representing  an  un 
developed  business  opportunity,  and  with  much  less 
than  the  degree  of  warmth  with  which,  had  it  not 
been  for  the  business  opportunity,  he  would  have 
greeted  the  rescuer  of  his  niece. 

"I  am  under  great  obligations  to  you,  Mr.  The 
odore,"  said  he,  "for  your  service  to  my  niece.  To 
be  entirely  frank,  I  should  not  have  appropriated 
the  time  to  call  on  any  business  account." 

Mr.  Carson  felt  repelled.  He  traced  the  "Mr. 
Theodore"  to  Captain  Harrod's  mode  of  referring 
to  him.  Seeing  nothing  in  Mr.  Shayne's  air  evinc 
ing  thirst  for  personal  data  concerning  himself, 
he  offered  none  as  to  his  name. 

"I  am  sorry,"  said  he,  "that  you  have  gone  even 
an  inch  out  of  your  way  on  account  of  any  fancied 
obligations.  I  prefer  the  basis  of  business." 

"By  Jove,"  said  a  voice  at  his  elbow,  "you  ought 
to  be  able  to  meet  him  on  that  basis,  Shayne." 

Carson's  ear  was  affronted,  his  nerves  tautened  by 
the  voice;  and  he  felt  a  sudden  disinclination  to 
meet  its  owner.  Shayne  waved  the  man  away. 

"But,"  went  on  Silberberg,  "it  seems  to  me,  old 
chap,  we'd  vastly  better  put  the  whole  thing  on  a 
basis  of  breakfast,  first.  Send  this  good  man  aft, 
and  let's  fall  to!" 

Carson  wheeled  round  and  stared  Silberberg  in  the 
face  curiously,  with  the  impersonal  disfavor  of  one 


60      VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

studying  the  picture  of  some  noxious  thing,  like  a 
Gila  monster  or  a  feast  of  vultures.  He  made  no  ef 
fort  to  avoid  affront,  but  remorselessly  bored  into 
Silberberg's  visage  with  his  eyes,  until  that  gentle 
man  began  to  squirm  in  disquietude,  whereupon  Car 
son  turned  his  back  suddenly  on  the  head  of  the 
Metals  Trust,  and  faced  Mr.  Shayne  just  in  time  to 
detect  a  fleeting  blush  departing  from  his  counte 
nance. 

"I  trust  that  you  will  take  breakfast  with  us," 
said  he,  "we  shall — " 

"Thank  you,"  said  Theodore.  "I  have  break 
fasted;  and  while  it  is  very  hygienic,  I  have  no 
doubt,  kosher  food  doesn't  appeal  to  me." 

"By  God,  my  man,"  shouted  Silberberg,  "if  you 
say  another  word — " 

Carson  turned  upon  him,  and  Silberberg  sank 
into  a  seat.  Carson  walked  back  to  the  engine- 
room,  saying  that  he  would  look  the  craft  over,  and 
see  Mr.  Shayne  after  breakfast. 

For  the  tourists  it  was  not  a  jolly  meal.  Silber 
berg  conceived  himself  vastly  insulted  by  this  fel 
low  they  had  picked  up,  and  gave  his  host  rather 
a  bad  half  hour. 

"We  owe  it  to  him  to  allow  him  to  be  a  little 
nasty,"  said  Shayne,  secretly  smiling  at  the  thought 
of  the  reception  awaiting  this  story  of  the  kosher 
food  in  certain  clubs  where  all  Silberberg's  wealth 


CARSON'S    LANDING  61 

had  not  made  him  a  social  favorite.  "Think  what 
he  did  for  Virginia,  you  know,  Silberberg." 

"By  Jove,"  cried  Silberberg,  "I  would  rather 
she  had — er,  that  is,  I  would  not  allow  any  service 
even  to  her  to  atone  for  such  an  insult.  I  don't 
allow  any  one  to —  He  must  leave  the  Roc, 
Shayne,  or  I  will." 

"But  his  machine  may  be  worth  while,"  urged 
Shayne,  using  what  he  judged  would  be  a  valid 
argument  with  his  guest.  "An  idea  is  an  idea,  Max, 
and  this  art  of  flying  needs  improvement." 

"No  idea,"  insisted  Max,  "is  worth  that  much. 
Suit  yourself,  Mr.  Shayne,  but  as  for  me — " 

Silberberg  waved  his  hand,  closing  the  debate. 
Mr.  Shayne  prided  himself  upon  his  ability  in  han 
dling  people,  and  was,  moreover,  most  pig-headed 
himself.  He  grew  fonder  of  Mr.  Carson's  project 
as  Silberberg  grew  hotter  in  urging  the  young 
man's  dismissal.  The  ship  passed  Magnolia 
Springs,  left  Point  Clear  far  to  port,  sailed  majes 
tically  over  Fairhope,  and  was  half-way  across 
the  bay  before  the  meal  ended,  with  the  argument 
still  undecided,  though  Shayne  was  winning  pro 
gressively  by  force  of  nearing  their  harbor.  As 
they  rose  they  detected  Wizner  standing  behind 
them,  hat  in  hand,  as  if  awaiting  a  word  with 
them :  or  eavesdropping,  as  the  case  might  have 
been. 


62      VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

"Well,"  said  Shayne,  rather  angrily. 

"I  just  wanted  to  say,"  replied  Wizner,  "that  I 
know  what  this  young  fellow's  proposition  is." 

"So  do  we,"  said  Mr.  Shayne.  "It's  some  kind 
of  flying-machine." 

"Yes,"  said  Wizner.  "And  if  you  don't  find 
him  reasonable  to  deal  with,  come  to  me.  I've  seen 
his  model.  It  ain't  protected,  of  course,  and  I  can 
build  one  like  it  in  a  few  weeks — with  money 
enough.  I'll  learn  him  to  butt  in  and  take  a  cus 
tomer  from  me!" 

Silberberg  and  Shayne  looked  significantly  at 
each  other. 

"When  inventors  fall  out,"  began  Shayne. 

"Monopolists  get  their  hooks  in,"  supplied  Sil 
berberg.  "Let's  take  the  fool  north,  and  see  what 
he's  got." 

"Most  sensible  thing  you've  said,"  replied 
Shayne. 

Now  this  conversation  must  not  be  taken  as  proof 
that  Mr.  Shayne  had  decided  upon  any  unfair  treat 
ment  of  this  cocky  young  chap  who  walked  the 
Roc's  deck  like  a  young  bull  in  his  own  proper 
'  pasture.  His  services  to  Virginia  entitled  him  to 
fair  treatment  in  business,  or  fair  payment  in 
money.  They  might  not  entitle  him  to  both.  In 
matters  aeronautical,  business  was  business.  If 
Wizner  could  learn  Carson's  secrets,  it  would  do 


CARSON'S    LANDING  63 

nobody  harm  for  Shayne  to  know  them.  All  these 
things  were  mere  business  truisms.  So  he  talked 
with  Wizner  aside,  and  by  the  time  the  aeronat 
librating  over  the  aerial  harbor  and  obeying  her 
descent  screws,  gently  purred  into  her  berth,  he  had 
discovered  that  Wizner  really  knew  nothing,  but 
was  in  position,  as  he  said,  to  find  out  a  deuce  of 
a  lot,  having  seen  a  mysterious  something  in  the 
hidden  shed  on  the  South  Beach,  which  he  de 
clined  to  describe,  principally,  as  Shayne  plainly 
told  him,  because  he  couldn't ;  but  it  might  be  worth 
his  while,  he  added,  for  Wizner  to  take  another 
look,  and  make  a  sketch  or  so. 

Carson  waited  in  glum  silence  until  the  second 
descent  of  the  lift,  refusing  to  occupy  it  along  with 
Silberberg.  Shayne  urged  him  to  stay  aboard  for 
the  night  trip  to  Chicago.  It  was  only  one  day  there 
and  another  back,  for  the  weather  map  indicated 
northerly  winds  outward  and  southerly  ones  re 
turning — one  of  those  fine  prosperous  flights  that 
sometimes  gave  to  the  aeronat  cruise  the  semblance 
of  real  rulership  of  the  air. 

"The  weather,  north,"  said  Shayne,  "is  the  mild 
est  known  for  March.  We've  plenty  of  furs  and 
top-coats  if  it  falls  cold.  We  can  discuss  your 
project,  Mr.  Theodore,  over  our  high-balls  going 
up.  It's  your  only  way  to  file  your  tale  of  woe. 
Come  with  us." 


64      VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

Very  well,  said  Mr.  Theodore,  he  would  go,  with 
many  thanks. 

He  wondered  about  the  niece  and  Silberberg, 
but  he  asked  no  questions.  His  fervent  wish  that 
"Psyche"  might  go  was  born  of  a  natural  desire 
to  know  if  she  had  recovered  from  her  terrible 
experience.  He  yearned  so  strongly  to  pay  her  the 
merely  formal  attention  of  inquiring  about  this  that 
he  wandered  about  aimlessly,  growing  red  and 
tingling  to  his  ringers'  ends  at  imaginary  passages 
between  himself  and  Psyche,  running  into  dang 
ers  from  moving  trams  and  motor  vehicles,  and 
walking  in  a  dream  slap  aboard  a  Guayaquil  liner, 
under  the  impression  that  he  was  strolling  up  Gov 
ernment  Street.  With  unseemly  haste  he  got  off, 
or  his  next  land-fall  would  have  been  the  Canal 
Zone,  not  Chicago. 

He  cleared  his  eyes  of  Psyche  dust,  strode  di 
rectly  to  the  lift,  and  went  aboard  the  Roc.  It  was 
late  in  the  afternoon.  The  engineer  was  impatient 
for  his  party,  and  swore  an  unblasphemous  oath 
of  relief  as  they  appeared  below.  Carson  looked 
down  and  saw  a  rising  oval  spot  of  black-and-white 
checks,  which  he  knew  to  be  the  flat  cap  of  Silber 
berg,  and  he  breathed  hard.  Also,  however,  there 
was  a  parterre  of  millinery  under  which  must  be 
at  least  two  women,  and  he  breathed  easier.  That 
hound  was  going,  then, — and  Psyche,  too.  How 


CARSON'S    LANDING  65 

inexpressibly  annoying,  and  completely  ecstatic  it 
was !  They  went  forward ;  and  when  Carson  joined 
them,  the  ladies  had  vanished  into  the  cabin,  with 
Silberberg. 

"What  do  you  think  of  the  weather?"  asked 
Shayne. 

"The  low  has  reached  Omaha,"  replied  Carson, 
"and  has  deepened  rapidly.  We  ought  to  get  into 
stiff  south  winds  soon,  increasing  all  the  way." 

"Let  'em  increase,"  rejoined  Shayne.  "We'll 
make  port  quicker.  If  it  should  be  northerly 
weather,  now — " 

"We'd  have  to  moor?"  queried  Carson. 

"Naturally." 

"What  I'm  going  to  talk  to  you  about,"  said  Car 
son,  "is  a  machine  that  could  make  Chicago  against 
the  fiercest  gale  quicker  than  this  flying  palace  can 
do  it  to-night." 

"Oh,  yes,"  lightly  replied  Shayne.  "I've  had 
'em  offered  me  that  would  do  it  in  an  hour — in 
the  inventor's  mind.  And  they've  been  announcing 
them  ever  since  the  time  of  Santos-Dumont,  and 
we  are  still  about  where  the  old  Brazilian  left  the 
art.  Methanose  and  light  engines  help  some;  but 
we're  helpless  yet  in  a  forty-mile  wind." 

"We  may  be  so  to-night,"  said  a  voice  at  their 
elbows.  "The  forecast  is  mist  and  clouds  north  of 
Meridian;  and  it's  blowing  hard  at  Memphis,  sir." 


66      VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

"How  hard?" 

"Thirty-two  per,"  replied  the  engineer.  "But 
it's  freshening  every  minute,  they  say." 

"It'll  be  with  us,"  answered  Shayne.  "Put  her 
tail  to  it,  and  hike." 

The  earth  was  a  concave  cup  with  the  setting 
sun  a  flaming  wick  on  its  rim.  To  the  north  was  a 
huge,  black  accumulation  of  clouds  which  seemed 
swelling  with  startling  rapidity;  but  the  weather- 
wise  aviators  knew  it  to  be  their  own  headlong 
flight  which  brought  the  clouds  nearer  with  such 
speed,  giving  them  the  swift  upheaval  which  mim 
icked  the  approach  of  a  storm.  The  silence  was 
absolute,  save  for  the  muffled  exhaust  of  the  engines 
and  the  purr  of  the  driving  screw  astern;  for  the 
Roc  kept  pace  with  the  blast,  and  the  light  breeze 
that  swept  her  decks  was  from  prow,  eastwardly 
to  stern,  as  she  edged  up  into  the  great  cyclonic 
whirl  and  outfooted  the  wind.  Darkness  stole  over 
the  earth,  and  the  foreshortened  landscape  was 
blotted  out,  even  while  the  sun's  rays  still  silvered 
the  great  bulging  overhang  of  the  Roc's  majestic 
hull.  The  light  drew  up  to  the  zenith  and  left  the 
ship,  too,  in  shadow.  The  conning  lamps  threw 
long  white  cones  down  thousands  of  feet  of  space 
to  the  earth,  and,  shifting  back  and  forth,  looked 
like  the  lambent  legs  of  some  unearthly  monster 
awkwardly  straddling  in  an  attempt  to  walk.  Far 


CARSON'S    LANDING  67 

off  shone  the  lights  of  river  steamers,  Pleiad-like 
constellations  of  massed  stars.  The  arc-lights  of 
the  towns  shone  up  vividly  as  the  flying  ship  neared 
their  lighted  area,  and  then  winked  out,  like  snuffed 
candles,  as  she  crossed  the  shadows  of  their  reflec 
tors.  Carson,  for  a  moment  left  alone,  walked  aft.  / 
Looking  rather  concerned,  the  engineer  was  turn 
ing  his  ear  downward,  listening  to  the  sullen  roar 
that  now  droned  up  from  the  ground. 

"A  hell  of  a  wind,"  said  he  to  Carson.  "Hear  it 
howl,  and  not  a  leaf  stirring  up  here."  , 

"Yes,"  assented  Carson,  listening,  "it  is  blowing; 
but  what  of  it?" 

"Oh,  nothing,"  replied  the  engineer,  looking  at 
the  manometer,  "only — did  you  ever  try  to  bring 
one  of  these  gas-bags  to  in  a  gale?  Not  to  mention 
nursing  her  into  the  boss's  Chicago  garage!  Hey?" 

"No,"  answered  Carson.     "It  must  be  difficult." 

"Oh,  it  isn't  bad,"  returned  the  engineer.  "In 
a  twenty-mile  wind  it's  just  an  even  break,  that's 
all,  whether  you  punch  a  hole  in  her  and  drop  two 
hundred  feet  to  the  street,  or  get  dumped  by  a 
down  draft  among  the  sky-scrapers  with  the 
depressors  running.  But  difficult?  The  devil  of  it 
is  it's  so  infernally  easy!  Unless  we  find  Chicago 
in  the  calm  spot  in  the  middle  of  the  low,  it's  the 
Canada  woods  for  ours.  And  I  despise  Nature!" 

Carson  smiled  at  this  gloomy  forecast,  followed 


68      VIRGINIA    OF   THE    AIR    LANES 

as  it  was  by  a  sprightly  whistle.  The  young  man 
wanted  his  serious  talk  with  Shayne.  So  far  they 
had  spoken  nothing  but  generalities,  and  he  felt 
frustrated,  held  off,  played  with  as  a  skilful  fencer 
plays  with  a  novice.  And  he  had  had  no  glimpse 
of  Psyche.  This  made  him  irritable — the  trip 
was  such  a  waste  of  time.  Well,  as  to  Shayne, 
he  must  take  things  into  his  own  hands,  buck  up, 
and  come  to  a  definite  parley.  As  to  the  girl — 

Miss  Suarez  stood  by  the  rail,  looking  off  into 
the  blackness,  her  hair  heavy  with  a  mist  now  just 
becoming  perceptible.  She  was  listening,  as  to 
something  with  which  the  ship  had  no  concern,  to 
the  howling  of  the  wind  down  on  earth.  Mrs. 
Shayne,  from  the  cabin  door,  looked  forth  at  the 
young  woman,  with  distinct  displeasure,  for  Vir 
ginia  had  just  said  a  very  naughty  thing  to  Mr. 
Silberberg,  in  a  golf  discussion,  which  had  unac 
countably  aroused  her  temper.  Silberberg  gloomed 
forth  darkly  over  Mrs.  Shayne's  shoulder  into  the 
darker  night.  Mr.  Shayne  was  asking  the  pilot 
for  data  as  to  distances  and  course,  having  audibly 
wished  the  women  at  the  devil.  It  was  not  all  bliss 
— and  in  walked  young  Carson  to  make  things 
worse. 

Virginia,  taking  him  for  Silberberg,  turned  on 
him  a  face  hot  with  anger,  stood  looking  at  him  a 
moment;  then  all  the  displeasure  faded  away  and 


CARSON'S    LANDING  69 

something  quite  irreconcilable  with  it  took  its 
place.  Because  she  held  out  both  hands  and 
looked  so  divine,  Carson  took  them  and  held  them 
close. 

"My  robber!"  she  whispered.  "Are  you  a  stow 
away?  Are  you  escaping?" 

"Psyche!  Psyche!"  he  gushed,  under  circum 
stances  distinctly  unfavorable  for  outpourings  of 
souls.  "Oh,  I'm  glad!  No,  escape  is  quite  hope 
less!  And  you  are  well  after,  after — " 

"After  my  orgy?"  she  queried. 

A  farmer  thought  he  heard  the  first  bobolink  of 
spring,  as  her  laugh  tinkled  down  from  the  clouds. 

"Virginia !" 

It  was  Mrs.  Shayne  who  called. 

"Please  come  in,"  said  she.    "It's  wet  out  there." 

Mr.  Carson  gave  Virginia  his  arm,  and  she  swept 
into  the  cabin,  leaning  proudly  on  it. 

"Uncle  Finley,"  said  she,  "I  don't  know  How  he 
happens  to  be  aboard ;  but  this  is — this  is  my — " 

"We  know,"  said  Mr.  Shayne.  "We  picked  up 
your  deliverer  down  in  the  woods,  Virginia." 

"Oh,"  said  she.     "Then  I—" 

"You  were  the  only  one,  it  seems,  in  ignorance 
of  Mr.  Theodore's  presence.  We  have  some  busi 
ness  to  talk  over.  What's  up,  Willett?" 

Willett,  the  pilot,  appeared  at  the  door  with  a 
salute.  He  was  a  stooped  little  scholarly-looking 


70      VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

man  who  wore  great  mica  goggles  shoved  back 
on  his  forehead. 

"You  sent  for  the  course  and  distances,  sir,"  he 
replied. 

Mrs.  Shayne  sank  back  on  a  broad  upholstered 
divan  built  into  the  wall.  Silberberg  twitched 
Shayne's  arm  to  gain  his  attention,  but  the  owner 
of  the  Roc  received  his  pilot's  report. 

"We  seem  to  be  breaking  records,"  went  on  Wil- 
lett.  "The  distance  gage  shows  St.  Louis  nearest, 
with  low  variation  for  headway.  Indianapolis  is 
weak,  right  around  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles ;  and 
we're  getting  indistinct  registry  that's  either  Nash 
ville  or  Chicago,  depending  on  whether  it  falls 
off  or  increases.  Plotting  the  course  on  the  theory 
that  it's  Chicago  showing  up,  we're  shooting  into 
Illinois  a  good  deal  faster  than  the  wind.  Here's 
the  trial  sheet,  sir." 

"By  George !"  cried  Shayne,  looking  at  the  sheet. 
"That's  going  some,  isn't  it?  What's  the  matter, 
Max?" 

"I  want  to  see  you  a  minute,"  growled  Silber 
berg,  and  drew  Shayne  out  upon  the  deck. 

Willett  went  back  to  his  work;  Mrs.  Shayne 
bowed  grandly  to  the  empty  air  which  her  gaze 
indicated  as  occupying  Carson's  position;  Virginia, 
begging  his  pardon  with  her  eyes,  excused  herself 
and  followed  her  aunt,  and  Carson  was  alone. 


CARSON'S    LANDING  71 

He  felt  the  insult,  the  condescension,  the  utter 
contempt  of  him  which  the  treatment  accorded  to 
him  by  all  but  Virginia  made  plain.  He  hated 
them.  He  wished  fervently  that  he  had  never 
stepped  aboard  to  ask  a  favor  of  the  great  and  arro 
gant  Shayne.  He  would  enter  into  no  arrangement 
with  him,  now;  he  would  win  his  own  victory,  or 
fail.  He  would  make  the  world  gasp.  He  was  in 
a  simmering  fury;  a  silly,  reasonless,  boy's  fury; 
but  his  instincts  were  true. 

Silberberg  was  making  it  unpleasant  for  Shayne 
again.  This  fellow,  he  said,  has  been  taking  lib 
erties  with  Miss  Suarez,  and  he,  Silberberg,  would 
not  stand  it.  He  was  a  stickler  for  Turkish  pro 
priety  now,  forgetting  the  episode  which  had  made 
Virginia  throw  in  the  clutch  of  the  helicopter,  and 
thus  brought  Carson  into  the  tragi-comedy.  Per 
haps  he  was  suspicious  that  Miss  Suarez  would  not 
have  thrown  in  the  clutch  if  it  had  been  this  young 
chap  paying  her  his  court. 

"I  tell  you,  Shayne,"  he  urged  hotly,  "he  must 
be  put  off!  He  must  be  paid  and  put  off.  If  he 
isn't—" 

"If  he  isn't,"  smiled  Shayne,  "it  wouldn't  be  a 
serious  matter,  would  it,  Max?" 

"Yes,"  spluttered  Silberberg.  "He  insulted  me! 
I  tell  you,  it's  all  over  between  Federated  Metals 


72      VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

and  Aerostatic  Power,  if  I'm  forced  to  take  things 
like  this." 

Shayne  laughed  heartily ;  but  he  heeded.  Silber- 
berg  wandered  off  into  incoherent  profanity.  He 
was  ready  to  do  almost  anything  in  his  jealousy, 
which  was  a  weakness  of  his  well-known  in  circles 
in  which  his  affaires  du  cceur  were  known.  Mr. 
Shayne  saw  real  danger  of  a  breach  to  which  no 
obligation  to  Carson  could  have  forced  him,  and 
grasped  Silberberg's  hand  warmly.  He  made  his 
decision  without  much  real  difficulty,  though  he 
hated  being  bullied  by  Silberberg.  Yielding,  he 
yielded  completely,  as  a  diplomat  should. 

"Max,  old  man,"  said  he,  "you're  quite  right! 
We  can't  go  down  in  (this  wind  to  let  him  land ; 
but  we  can  settle  with  him,  and  send  him  aft. 
Come  with  me." 

Theodore  was  examining  his  parachute.  As  the 
pair  entered  the  cabin,  he  had  loosened  the  lash 
ings,  and  was  closing  and  spreading  a  pair  of  light, 
collapsible  Gossett  deflectors.  He  slung  the  case 
over  his  shoulder,  and  stood  with  black  brows 
frowning,  the  slim  parachute  in  his  hand. 

"I  have  decided,"  said  Shayne,  "that  your  aero- 
nef  doesn't  interest  me." 

"Very  well,"  replied  Theodore.  "You  are  the 
sole  judge  of  that,  of  course." 


CARSON'S    LANDING  73 

"And  you  may  consider  the  negotiations  off," 
went  on  Shayne. 

"I  adopted  that  theory  some  time  ago,"  replied 
Carson. 

Shayne  took  out  his  purse  and  ostentatiously  re 
moved  from  it  a  number  of  bills. 

"I  think  I  ought  to  pay  you  for  your  time,"  said 
he,  "and  your  service  to  my  niece.  Please  take 
these,  and  be  good  enough  to  go  aft  with  the  crew !" 

If  Silberberg  had  not  seen  fit  to  indulge  in  a 
sardonic  laugh  at  this  exigency,  the  explosion  would 
not  have  occurred ;  but  that  sneering  chuckle  acted 
as  a  detonator  for  Carson's  temper.  He  struck 
Shayne's  extended  hand,  scattering  the  bills  over 
the  floor.  One  of  them  slid  slithering  across  to  the 
door  and  was  just  blowing  out  when  Silberberg 
caught  it.  The  others  lodged  in  corners  like  green 
snow.  Shayne  stood  with  flaring  nostrils  and  white 
with  rage.  Silberberg,  the  money  rustling  in  his 
fear-shaken  hand,  appealed  to  Shayne  not  to  be 
rash. 

"Don't  notice  the  fellow,  Shayne,"  said  he.  "He 
wants  to  keep  his  hold  on  the  girl,  and — " 

The  speech  was  cut  short  by  a  blow  from  Carson's 
flat  hand,  delivered  with  lightning  quickness,  and 
with  stinging  force.  As  calmly  as  though  bidding 
Silberberg  good  morning  Carson  spoke  to  him. 


74      VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

"Be  careful  how  you  speak  of  her,"  said  he,  "or 
I'll  throw  you  over  the  side.  Mr.  Shayne,  permit 
me  to  say  that  you  are  a  cur.  I  shall  leave  this 
craft  at  once!" 

He  started  to  go  on  deck,  but  as  if  reconsider 
ing,  he  turned  and  rapped  on  the  door  through 
which  Virginia  had  disappeared.  The  girl  opened 
it  and  looked  breathlessly  into  Theodore's  face, 
read  the  story  of  passion  and  strife  and  insult. 
Shayne  still  stood  as  if  fixed ;  Silberberg  was  stanch 
ing  a  bleeding  nose  with  his  handkerchief.  Vir 
ginia  gasped,  and  looked  at  Theodore  question- 
ingly. 

"I  am  about  to  leave  the  Roc,"  said  he.  "I  could 
not  leave  without  bidding  you  good-by." 

"Going?"  said  she,  clinging  to  banalities  because 
she  could  think  of  nothing  else.  "Have  we  de 
scended?" 

"Keep  away  from  that  man!"  screamed  Silber 
berg.  "He  struck  me!  And  he  knocked  your 
uncle's  money  all  over  the  ship !" 

The  girl  looked  at  the  fugitive  bills  which  Sil 
berberg  had  begun  laboriously  to  pick  up,  and  shot 
a  glance  of  comprehension  at  Theodore. 

".You  are  a  man!"  said  she.  "Let  me  see  you 
safe  aground." 

Carson  stood  aside  for  her,  and  they  went  out 
upon  the  mile-high  deck.  She  halted,  aghast  to  note 


I, ike  a  stone  he  fell,  lost  in  the  mists     Page  75 


CARSON'S    LANDING  75 

that  they  were  still  high  among  the  clouds  of  the 
storm,  plowing  on  through  a  wild  waste  of  tossing 
vapor,  while  the  hoarse  growl  from  the  earth  was 
so  distant  as  to  admonish  her  of  the  giddy  height 
from  the  ground.  Beyond  the  illumination  of  the 
lights,  it  was  absolutely  dark. 

"You  must  be  going  aft?"  said  she  interroga 
tively.  "I'll  go  with  you." 

"No,"  said  he.  "I  shall  never  see  you  again; 
but  I  shall  never  forget  you!  Good-by,  Psyche, 
good-by !" 

That  instantaneous  leave-taking  the  trembling 
girl  never  forgot.  Pressing  her  hands,  he  started 
forward  as  if  to  clasp  her  in  his  arms,  while  she 
made  no  gesture  of  either  yielding  or  resisting.  He 
turned  from  the  embrace  already  half  begun, 
stepped  upon  the  rail,  and  dropped  off  into  that 
black  abyss  of  night  and  tempest  Like  a  stone  he 
fell,  lost  in  the  mists. 

The  parachute,  so  far  as  she  could  see,  had  not 
opened  in  the  least  when  he  vanished;  and  with 
pallid  face  she  stood  there,  peering  over  into  the  un 
peopled  space,  her  soul  filled  with  horrible  visions  of 
the  end  of  that  wild  and  reckless  leap  at  the  behest 
of  pride.  As  she  pictured  his  fall  to  the  solid  earth, 
she  covered  her  face  with  her  hands  and  sank 
down  on  the  deck. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  FALL  THAT   FOLLOWED  PRIDE 

THEODORE  fell  like  a  stone,  so  swiftly  that 
the  aeronat  seemed  to  dart  incontinently 
toward  heaven.  All  about  him  were  the 
tossing  folds  of  the  cloud,  streaming  horsetails  of 
fog,  fleeces  of  aerial  wool,  invisible,  save  for  the 
lights  of  the  Roc,  which  intermittently  revealed  the 
vaporous  details  and  partly  dispelled  the  weird  il 
lusion  that  he  was  falling  eternally,  like  a  soul 
hurled  forth  into  a  purgatory  of  limitless  descent 
Like  the  retinal  image  of  a  quenched  flame,  he  saw 
in  the  murk  the  eyes  of  Shayne's  niece,  and  her 
white  face  under  the  quaint  pointed  hat,  blankly 
amazed  at  his  desperate  leap  from  the  air-ship. 
Suddenly  the  pull  of  the  parachute  admonished  him 
that  at  last  it  was  doing  its  work,  and  restored  to 
him  an  acute  perception  of  his  situation. 

He  felt  none  of  the  effects  of  the  gale;  but  the 
wind  of  his  fall  burst  upward  as  from  the  mouth  of 
some  huge  blower,  fighting  his  descent,  stripping  off 
his  hat,  and  snapping  his  hair  like  whip-lashes. 

76 


THE  FALL  THAT  FOLLOWED  PRIDE     77 

Black  as  the  heavens  was  all  below  until  directly  be 
neath  him  there  suddenly  burst  forth  a  great  red 
light  that  kindled  the  cloud  to  crimson,  turning  the 
heavens  to  a  sky  of  sanguinary  vapor  spanning  a  sea 
of  flame.  The  mysterious  light  swelled  like  an  out- 
bursting  conflagration;  filled  the  falling  boy  with 
terror;  and  then,  as  swiftly  as  it  had  grown,  it 
waned,  faded,  and  the  sky  was  dark  again.  The 
fear  of  the  eery  and  inexplicable  chilled  him  more 
than  did  the  fierce  March  blast.  The  expanded  para 
chute  suspended  him  over  fiery  mystery  and  an  un 
known  land,  wondering,  wishing  for  day,  or  for 
clear  darkness  even,  that  he  might  see  on  what  or 
into  what  he  was  falling. 

If  he  but  knew  the  land,  he  might  set  the  deflec 
tors  and  work  his  fall  over  into  safety — if  safety  the 
neighborhood  afforded.  How  the  wind's  voice 
grew !  Whether  on  church  spire  or  chimney  or 
tower,  into  garden  or  wood  or  graveyard  or  into 
open  grave,  it  was  a  wild,  dangerous  night  in  which 
to  land. 

Suddenly  he  burst  from  the  floor  of  the  cloud 
like  a  meteorite,  and  saw  a  long  procession  of  white 
and  violet  lights  speeding  past  and  away  into  the 
distance,  the  arc-lights  of  a  town  set  into  apparent 
flight  by  the  speed  of  his  headlong  career  before  the 
wind.  Far  off  in  the  glare  of  a  locomotive  fire-box 
he  could  see  a  devilish  black  fireman,  weirdly 


78      VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

stoking.  Had  there  been  light  for  it,  Carson  had 
scant  time  to  survey  his  land-fall;  but  he  judged  in 
stantaneously  that  on  either  side  would  lie  the  open 
fields;  and  to  avoid  the  roofs  and  chimneys,  he  set 
the  deflectors  to  nurse  off  his  descent  toward  farms 
and  soft  earth. 

The  town  fled  away;  the  roar  of  the  wind  rose 
about  him;  he  was  whipped  stingingly  by  the 
branches  of  a  tall  tree;  then  a  lower  one  bowed  him 
through  its  dense  top ;  he  laid  hold  of  a  slim  birch, 
and,  as  it  bent  like  a  fishing-rod  under  his  weight, 
he  let  go  the  sheets  of  his  parachute,  the  wind  spilled 
from  the  silken  leach,  and  he  tumbled  heavily  into 
a  mattress-like  bridal-wreath  bush,  over  an  as 
phalted  walk,  and,  eased  down  by  the  shrubbery, 
he  rose  unhurt,  so  far  as  he  could  feel,  to  find  him 
self  by  a  rustic  seat  near  a  dry  fountain.  On  his  left 
he  could  make  out  a  long  building  three  or  four 
stories  high,  the  roof  of  which  he  had  barely  missed, 
looming  against  the  night  sky,  black,  solid,  "dark 
like  the  fool's  heart,"  and  to  his  eyes,  immitigably 
sinister. 

A  high  wall  running  back  from  each  end  of  this 
structure,  seemed  to  him  to  bound  the  garden — for 
a  garden  he  guessed  it  to  be.  Back  in  some  crepuscu 
lar  jungle  he  heard  the  throaty  bellow  of  a  great 
dog,  and  thanked  Heaven  that  he  had  left  no  trail. 
He  found  his  parachute  almost  uninjured,  whipped 


THE  FALL  THAT  FOLLOWED  PRIDE     79 

it  about  with  the  lashings,  and  slung  it  on  his  back. 
The  dog's  felonious  bark  seemed  angrier  now,  and, 
he  fancied,  nearer.  Feeling  for  his  pistol  and  find 
ing  it  lost,  he  limped — for  he  now  discovered  that 
one  knee  was  hurt — across  the  lawn  to  the  place 
farthest  from  the  dog. 

Following  the  wall,  he  found  it  integral  with 
that  of  the  house.  For  two  or  three  hundred  feet 
back,  it  was  blank  and  high  and  insurmountable. 
The  dog  was  still  now,  and,  though  Theodore's  legs 
prickled  with  the  fear  of  fangs  at  each  rustle  in  the 
shrubbery,  he  reconnoitered  the  rear  wall  to  a  brick 
barn  into  which  it  was  built.  Everything  was  de- 
pressingly  secure  and  substantial  and  workmanlike. 
Like  the  walls  that  surround  the  terrestrial  para 
dise,  these  structures  were  as  the  native  rock  of 
the  eternal  hills. 

In  the  other  corner  was  the  dog;  and  he  shrank 
from  exploration  in  that  direction.  So,  through  beds 
of  dry  phlox,  iris  and  tiger-lilies,  he  returned  to  the 
long  house,  and  stole  across  to  the  fourth  side,  where 
he  found  a  door  through  the  wall,  tight-shut  and 
impregnable.  Back  by  this  last  long  wall  he  felt  his 
way,  still  baffled.  A  sense  of  durance  and  incarcera 
tion  began  to  overpower  him,  in  the  desperation  of 
which  he  ventured  back,  even  to  the  barn  again, 
thus  having  completely  circumnavigated  both  the 
garden  and  the  Cerberus  guarding  it.  He  felt  as  he 


8o      VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

passed  the  kennel  much  as  Ulysses  must  have  done 
with  the  blinded  and  furious  Polyphemus  feeling 
about  the  cave  for  him ;  but  on  he  stole,  only  to  make 
sure  that  there  was  no  way  out.  The  very  sternness 
of  the  architecture  pointed  to  this  conclusion  as  a 
moral  and  mural  certainty.  Only  one  course  re 
mained:  to  knock  at  the  Dark  Tower  at  the  rear 
and  ask  to  be  let  out;  and  from  this  he  shrank.  He 
knew  nothing  of  the  place,  its  people,  or  its  laws. 
Still,  it  was  America,  and  well  along  toward  the 
middle  of  the  twentieth  century;  and  his  punish 
ment  would  be  endurable,  he  hoped,  praying  fer 
vently  that  the  laws  of  whatever  state  it  might  be, 
would  not  make  burglary  of  his  offense,  which  was 
"entering,"  to  be  sure,  but  not  by  "breaking" — 
unless  one  counted  the  birch  limbs  and  the  bridal- 
wreath — and  which  quite  lacked  malice  afore 
thought.  Calling  up  his  scattered  courage  by  the 
drumming  in  his  ears,  he  went  with  some  steadiness 
up  to  the  long  veranda,  and  was  about  to  violate  its 
columned  shades,  when  a  shrill  whistle  sounding 
from  the  top  of  the  porch  instantly  commanded  his 
attention. 

It  was  one  of  those  sharp,  hissing  boy's  whistles, 
made  with  the  curved  forefinger  stuck  into  one  cor 
ner  of  the  mouth  and  out  at  the  other — an  enviable 
and  fiendish  trick.  It  shrilled  above  the  blast  like 
the  signal  to  go  swimming.  Theodore  backed  into 


THE  FALL  THAT  FOLLOWED  PRIDE     81 

the  open,  and  saw  a  man  on  the  roof,  just  in  the  act 
of  swinging  himself  down  over  the  eave. 

"Get  under  here,  old  sport,"  said  the  voice,  "and 
give  a  liberty-loving  classmate  a  leg  down." 

Theodore  received  on  his  shoulder  a  rather  small 
shoe,  reached  up  and  steadied  a  somewhat  bony  leg, 
and  was  about  to  let  his  burden  down,  when  the 
liberty-loving  one  collapsed  in  all  his  members,  and 
came  down  by  the  run,  in  all  ways,  and,  as  it 
seemed,  on  all  sides  at  once  of  his  helper. 

Carson  started  forward  to  raise  the  demoralized 
fugitive  to  his  feet;  but  he  was  already  up  and  in 
the  darkness  seemed  to  be  bowing  and  kissing  his 
hand  to  an  imaginary  audience,  like  a  tumbler  ac 
knowledging  applause. 

"My  celebrated  Avernus  act,"  said  he.  "Special 
gravitation  expert  to  the  crowned  heads !  But  hist ! 
Let  me  greet  thee!  An'  ye  be  noble,  salute  my 
cheek;  an'  ye  be  slob,  receive  my  contemptuous 
thanks! — Hey,  old  sport?" 

"I  hope  you  aren't  hurt,"  said  Carson. 

"Nay,  that's  past  hoping!"  answered  the  other. 
"I  am  busted  in  all  ways!  Compound,  comminuted 
and  stellated  fractures  are  now  desirable,  in  view 
my  worser  scath.  I  am  sore  shent,  and  I  fear  I  have 
torn  my  panties.  But  I  have  escaped — "  (here  he 
spoke  piercingly  into  Carson's  ear) — "  a  doom  that 
in  another  moment  would  have  topped  the  agonies 


of  deepest  hell  raised  to  the  Nth  power !  But  I  am 
selfish!  I  talk  only  of  myself — and  things.  Let  us 
fuse  our  souls,  reveal  the  secrets  of  our  beings.  I 
wot  we  are  kindred  spirits,  rectified,  one  hundred 
proof,  aged  in  the  wood  and  bottled  in  bond — bot 
tled  tight!  Wottest  thou  not  so,  w'at?" 

Unable  to  account  for  his  affinity's  uncommon 
mode  of  address,  and  quite  as  unable  to  escape,  Car 
son  stood  mute,  alone  with  a  possible  lunatic  and  a 
very  probable  dog,  in  a  walled  garden  into  which 
he  had  dropped  from  the  night  sky,  in  an  Alabama 
suit  of  clothes,  in  a  climate  which  in  all  likelihood 
belonged  to  Illinois,  but  reminded  one  of  Green 
land.  There  seemed  to  be  nothing  adequate  to  say. 

"If  your  being  remains  reticent  as  to  its  inner 
springs  of  joy  and  sorrow,"  remarked  the  stranger, 
as  if  speaking  of  some  foreign  and  recalcitrant 
thing,  the  proper  treatment  of  which  might  present 
a  delicate  problem,  "let  me  unlock  its  refractory 
atomic  nature  with  the  ferment  of  my  celebrated 
system  of  cross-examination,  elaborated  in  the  case 
of  Gorrell  vs.  Gorrell.  If  in  generalities  thou  wilt 
not  wilt,  let  us  reverse  the  evolutionary  process  and 
'proceed  from  the  abstract  to  the  concrete,  from  the 
general  to  the  particular.  In  what  orchestra  do  you 
play  traps?" 

"I  am  not  a  musician,"  answered  Theodore. 

"Stricken   out  as   not   responsive,"    rejoined  the 


THE  FALL  THAT  FOLLOWED  PRIDE     83 

stranger.  "I  never  hinted  it;  but  from  your  caput 
cometh  a  rattle  like  a  muted  castanet,  and  anon  like 
a  battery  of  telegraph  sounders.  Stay!  Is  it  pos 
sible  that  it  emanates  from  the  clattering  of  your 
teeth?  Caitiff,  you  are  scairt — or  in  an  ague  that 
would  reduce  a  foundry  rattler  to  matchwood !  Art 
cold,  fair  youth?" 

"A  little,"  replied  Carson.  "I  am  lightly  dressed." 

"Then  come,  come  away,  tra-la-la,  with  me,"  said 
the  strange  denizen  of  the  dark  house;  "to  a  realm 
of  balmy  air  and  breezes  of  Ceylon.  To  heel;  and 
if  thy  heavy  hoof  but  scrape  the  gravel  to  betray 
our  flight,  thou  diest,  and  all  thy  wad  is  gobbled  by 
the  privy  coffer  of  the  emporium.  To  heel !" 

With  a  swift  darting  movement  the  stranger 
turned,  and  followed  obediently  by  Carson,  went  by 
the  bridal-wreath  bush  of  concussive  memory,  and 
across  to  a  building  which  Theodore  guessed  to  be 
a  greenhouse.  His  guide  opened  the  door,  and  stood 
back  with  elaborate  courtesy  that  Carson  might  pre 
cede  him.  Entering,  Theodore  found  himself  among 
beds  of  flowers  which  filled  the  house  save  for  a 
central  passageway,  all  in  deep  shadow,  fragrant 
and  warm. 

"I  shall  not  freeze,"  said  he  to  himself;  "and  that 
is  some  comfort." 

The  stranger  stayed  so  long  at  the  door  that  Car 
son  began  to  feel  quite  sure  of  having  been  beguiled 


84      VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

into  a  prison  by  his  polite  companion,  and  that  the 
next  phase  would  be  the  constabulary  and  arraign 
ment.  He  was  guilty  of  trespass;  and  the  case  for 
attempted  burglary  might  be  plausible;  but,  surely, 
they  would  not  be  severe.  He  was  safe  from  the 
dog,  now,  and  what  matter  if  the  trial  should  delay 
his  return  to  the  south?  In  the  confusion  of  his 
mind,  hard,  obvious  exigencies  lost  importance  to 
him,  numbed  as  he  was  by  the  amputation  of  a  great 
hope.  Shayne  had  meant  everything  that  might 
make  or  mar  his  life;  and  he  had  defied  and  angered 
him  irremediably.  That  was  irreparable,  but  he 
had  struck  Silberberg's  thick-lipped  mouth — and 
that  was  worth  much.  He  had  had  another  meeting 
with  the  nameless  niece;  she  had  stood  by  him 
against  her  uncle  and  Silberberg,  who  was  a  great 
figure  and  a  suitor  for  her  favor.  These  were  un 
available  assets  financially,  but  they  meant  so  much 
to  the  foolish  boy  that  he  forgot  the  man  who  had 
enticed  him  into  this  flowery  jail;  forgot  every 
thing  except  the  white  face  of  Shayne's  niece,  plead 
ing  against  his  foolhardiness,  as  he  leaped  from  the 
aeronat,  and,  spurning  her  deck  in  youthful  in 
dignation,  shot  downward  into  the  cloud.  Her  one 
arm  was  about  the  aluminum  stanchion,  its  hand  on 
her  breast,  the  other  to  her  hat.  She  had  changed 
the  flowery  bonnet  for  a  little  bycocket  of  bottle- 
green  velvet,  brooded  over  by  a  graceful  plume,  and 


THE  FALL  THAT  FOLLOWED  PRIDE     85 

worn  with  the  point  over  her  eyes,  the  turned-up 
brim  behind,  and  the  sharp  crown  flattened  over 
like  the  top  of  a  mountain  struck  while  plastic  by  a 
huge  paddle.  He  could  see  it  all,  the  great  air-ship 
lessening  to  a  dim  blur  in  the  high  mists,  the  face 
and  eyes  and  the  quaint  little  bycocket  hat  glowing 
on  and  on  with  faithful  steadiness.  Constables!  A 
fig- 

"It  is  too  dark,"  said  his  guide,  rejoining  him,  "to 
make  the  exchange  of  cards  more  than  an  empty 
and  invisible  formality.  Yet,  I  would  fain  know 
more  of  you  than  the  bare  data  of  your  instability 
as  a  ladder  and  the  bright  and  snappy  technique  of 
your  tooth-chattering.  Quite  material  enough,  it  is 
true,  had  one  the  time  to  work  it  out,  but,  to  coin  a 
phrase,  what's  the  use?  Beyond  your  nocturnal 
habits,  what  peculiar  volitional  defect  brings  you 
here?  To  follow  the  usual  conversational  forms 
here,  are  you  a  steady,  or  a  periodical?" 

"I  don't  understand,"  answered  Carson.  "I  came 
here  quite  by  accident.  I  had  no  intention  of  com- 
ing.  I—" 

"Quite  so,"  interposed  his  interlocutor.  "Let's  sit 
down  by  the  American  Beauty  bed — there.  If  we 
might  strike  a  match,  now  ...  I  estimate  that 
half  us  lush-logged  derelicts  go  ashore  here,  in  a 
state,  to  coin  a  word,  of  orey-eyed  wooziness.  I  may 
say  that  I  came  myself  by  accident,  and  without 


86      VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

meaning  to  do  so — or  otherwise  ...  I  must  have 
a  smoke!" 

He  seemed  to  be  feeling  for  a  cigar-case,  tapping 
his  person  in  various  places  where  it  might  be  se 
creted.  Then  came  the  scratch  of  the  match;  and 
Theodore  scrutinized  the  face  in  the  flare  of  the 
matches,  as,  with  nervous,  unsteady  movements  the 
stranger  lighted  the  weed. 

He  was  a  medium-sized  person,  with  deep-set 
eyes  flickering  from  their  caverns  with  a  blurred 
sharpness,  like  tungsten-lamps  seen  through  a  veil. 
His  face  was  sallow  and  colorless,  with  hollows  in 
the  cheeks,  whose  announcement  of  ill-health  was 
contradicted  by  the  general  appearance  of  hardness 
of  face  and  neck,  like  that  of  seasoned  oak.  He  wore 
a  flat  cap  with  the  crown  piled  forward;  and  his 
heavy  and  long  hair  of  a  neutral  brown  matching  his 
complexion,  fell  to  his  collar  in  a  mass  that  made 
any  cap  seem  superfluous.  Two  or  three  heavy 
witchlocks  lay  like  a  disordered  mane  over  his  fore 
head,  mingling  with  eyebrows  of  youthful  light 
ness.  His  nose  was  irregularly  notched  in  profile, 
like  the  stub  of  something  else  broken  off  his  face 
with  an  angular  fracture  like  crystallized  iron.  He 
had  sensitive  lips,  and  a  mouth  which  was  shapely 
and  rather  fine,  but  drooped  at  the  corners  patheti 
cally.  His  chin  was  deeply  hollowed  at  the  base  of 
the  lip,  and  cut  through  by  a  perpendicular  crevasse 


THE  FALL  THAT  FOLLOWED  PRIDE     87 

which  must  have  been  a  bother  to  his  barber.  Alto 
gether  it  was  a  curiously  complex  face,  both  in  fea 
ture  and  expression,  and  spoke  to  Carson  of  the 
inborn  wildness,  and  wild  ability  of  its  owner.  But 
he  looked  anything  but  insane. 

His  dress,  however,  brought  back  the  impression 
of  abnormal  eccentricity.  He  had  on  a  colored  shirt, 
and  from  his  high  collar  streamed  a  huge  red  silk 
cravat,  untied,  arid  spreading  over  His  breast  like 
the  banners  of  the  social  revolution,  now  greatly 
overdue.  The  white  evening  waistcoat  was  too  low 
for  the  shirt,  revealing  secrets  of  construction  never 
meant  for  the  scrutiny  of  any  stranger  except  the 
laundress.  His  coat  was  a  long  black  frock,  the 
skirts  of  which,  gathered  about  his  legs,  fell  wide, 
discovering  inexpressibles  of  Scotch  plaid,  much 
turned  up,  and  evening  shoes,  the  shine  of  which 
was  obscured  by  successive  accretions  of  dried  mud. 
So  much  was  revealed  by  the  series  of  matches  which 
he  lighted,  sitting  humped  up  in  an  evident  attempt 
to  keep  the  light  hidden  in  the  spread  of  his  coat. 
Carson's  head  swam  in  the  growing  conviction  that 
he  had  reached  a  condition  in  which  it  was  impos 
sible  to  distinguish  between  dream  and  reality,  and 
that  this  was  some  disordered  nightmare. 

"I  hope  you  don't  smoke,"  said  the  vision,  "for 
two  reasons.  Firstly,  when  we  light  a  match  we 
run  the  risk  of  detection,  and  of  consequences,  at  the 


88      VIRGINIA    OF   THE   AIR    LANES 

contemplation  of  which  my  purely  hypothetical 
mind  constructively  reels.  Secondly,  I  find  myself 
wearing  for  my  own  use  and  behoof  in  my  own 
proper  countenance,  my  last  cigar." 

Carson  protested  that  he  did  not  care  to  smoke, 
and  they  sat  on  in  unexpected  quiet,  the  cigar  glow 
ing  and  waning  like  a  far-off  revolving  light. 

"I  suppose  I  might  explain,  sir — " 

So  began  Theodore ;  but  the  other's  hand  waved 
in  dim  protest  across  the  sky,  checkered  by  the  sash 
of  the  roof,  and  his  voice  interrupted  him. 

"Explain?'*  said  he.  "Nay,  nay!  Leave  explana 
tions  for  the  crass  followers  of  ebriety.  Already  I 
begin  clairvoyantly  to  see  the  depths  of  your  being. 
I  know  from  the  seventeenth-century  quirk  to  the 
*ou',  the  slighted  'vanish'  of  the  long  T,  the  cere 
monious  address  derived  from  the  racial  practice  of 
private  war,  that  you  are  a  gentleman,  suh,  from  the 
South,  by  gad !  And  your  obliviousness  of  your  ar 
rival  here  furnishes  proof,  prima  facie,  but  not  con 
clusive,  that  you  are  that  most  difficult  of  cases  for 
Doctor  Witherspoon,  a  periodical.  Rousing  from 
what  your  attendant  took  for  slumber,  yearning  for 
liberty,  you  came  into  the  garden,  Maud,  leaving 
your  jag-boss,  if  any,  snoring  like  mine,  who  fills 
himself  with  the  east  wind,  or,  to  coin  a  phrase,  any 
old  wind,  and  holds  his  breath  until  you  feel  the 
fond  hope  that  he  is  dead,  and  then  lets  it  burst  from 


THE  FALL  THAT  FOLLOWED  PRIDE     89 

his  lips  in  one  grand  'sploof  that  moves  the  dra 
peries  like  the  breath  of  a  gale,  and  drives  the  wake 
ful  listener  mad — mad,  I  say!  And  he,  the  said 
listener,  flies,  rules  or  no  rules,  as  I  have  done!" 

"My  name  is  Carson,"  said  Theodore,  "and  I  am 
from  the  South,  from  Alabama.  I — " 

"Craighead  is  mine,"  rejoined  the  other.  "I  am 
from  here  and  elsewhere.  There  are  twenty  places 
where  I  might  vote  were  there  any  question  under 
the  sun  worth  voting  on,  and  fifty  places  where  my 
residence  would  be  vehemently  disclaimed  by  the 
authorities.  I  think  I  may  venture  to  give  you,  sir, 
as  my  permanent  residence — until  further  notice — 
only — the  Rat  Mort,  Paris ;  got  that  down  ?" 

"I — "  began  Carson. 

"The  Rat  Mort,"  interposed  Craighead.  "One 
deep  midnight  in  the  dear,  dread  past  beyond  recall, 
I  was  ejected  from  the  Rat  Mort  because  my  con 
duct  was  not  up  to  the  theretofore  undisclosed 
standards  of  the  place — from  the  Rat  Mort — actu 
ally  trun  out,  to  coin  an  expression!  Doth  it  not 
open  glimpses  of  a  depravity  hitherto  fabulous? 
And  when  I  have  been  graduated  from  this  em 
porium,  I  shall  return,  pride  in  my  port — meaning 
nothing  vinous — defiance  in  mine  eyes,  and  I  shall 
sit  down  in  the  Rat  Mort  and  behave  myself  for 
long,  long  periods  of  time,  for  ages,  in  the  mad, 
mad  whirl  of  silk  hats,  Latin  Quartier  ties,  rounded 


90      VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

and  eyeleted  hose  and  shimmering  lingerie,  the  only 
person  plunged  into  beastly  sobriety,  a  rock  of  pro 
priety,  standing  four-square,  or  mayhap  three-cor 
nered,  to  every  bacchanalian  wind  that  blows,  with 
its  scent  of  garlic,  and  Roquefort  cheese,  and  spilt 
wine,  and  volatile  oil  of  wormwood,  the  active  and 
deadly  principle  of  absinthe !  That's  what  I'll  do !" 
After  this  somewhat  complicated  pronunciamiento, 
Mr.  Craighead  fell  silent,  and  even  forgot  to  smoke. 
Languid  from  the  long  hours  of  strain  and  sleep 
lessness,  and  physical  as  well  as  mental  reaction  in 
the  warm  and  fragrant  greenhouse,  Carson  grew 
somnolent.  At  short  intervals  the  sky  was  illumined 
by  a  far-off  glare  which  Theodore  identified  with 
the  burst  of  flame  that  had  so  startled  him  in  his 
fall  from  the  Roc,  and  the  regular  recurrence  of 
which  proved  it  to  be  either  the  flame  from  the 
nostrils  of  some  slow-breathing  dragon,  or  the 
chimney  of  a  gas-house.  Mr.  Craighead  sat  upright, 
making  occasional  elocutionary  gestures  with  his 
cigar  hand.  Once  he  spoke  again  of  the  Rat  Mort. 

"Oh,"  said  he,  "I'll  be  the  pink  of  perfection 
of  desirable  citizenship — when  I  graduate  from  this 
emporium." 

Silence  again,  save  for  the  barking  of  the  dog. 
Craighead's  breathing  now  indicated  his  capitula 
tion  to  sleep, — crumpled  prone  against  a  Norfolk 
Island  pine.  Carson,  who  had  classified  him  as  a 


THE  FALL  THAT  FOLLOWED  PRIDE     91 

lunatic,  now  found  himself  uncertain.  The  man  be 
haved  like  a  boy  playing  truant,  rather  than  an 
adult  prisoner  escaping;  yet,  of  what  detection  was 
he  afraid  ?  Why  was  he  flying  from  the  mysterious 
"emporium"  ?  What  did  he  mean  by  his  talk  of 
"steadies"  and  "periodicals,"  and  by  putting  Car 
son  down  as  the  latter?  All  mystery!  Only  one 
thing  was  certain — the  superiority  of  the  greenhouse 
over  the  open  garden  with  its  chill  airs  and  its  dog. 
Carson's  head  nodded  topplingly ;  and  when  he  be 
came  conscious,  it  was  day.  Whistles  were  blowing; 
a  train  could  be  heard  leaving  the  yards  of  the 
near-by  town.  The  clearness  of  the  morning  sounds 
advised  him  that  the  wind  had  fallen;  and  as  proof 
that  it  had  not  been  all  a  dream,  there  lay  Mr. 
Craighead  against  the  tree-pot,  his  face  pale,  a  pa 
thetic  droop  saddening  his  mouth,  his  hair  woefully 
tousled,  the  flat  cap  at  his  feet  by  the  half-smoked 
cigar.  Yes,  Mr.  Craighead  stood  the  test  of  day 
light.  Like  the  flag,  he  was  still  there. 

Two  or  three  men  came  past  the  greenhouse,  went 
round  it  and  walked  away  again,  as  if  making  some 
sort  of  search.  They  came  back  after  a  time,  and 
entered.  One  was  a  tall,  athletic,  ruddy-complex- 
ioned,  youngish  man,  who  seemed  to  be  the  leader  of 
the  trio.  They  gazed  at  Carson  and  Craighead  as 
if  taking  stock  dispassionately  of  returned  estrays, 
in  the  form  of  dogs  or  horses. 


92      VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

"Well,  Mr.  Craighead,"  said  the  tall  one  in  ac 
cents  distinctly  British,  "I'm  no  end  sorry  to  find 
you  out  of  bounds  again,  sir !" 

Instantly  wide-awake,  Craighead  assumed  an  at 
titude  of  jocular  familiarity. 

"It  agonizes  me  to  have  given  you  a  moment's 
pain,  Dennis,"  said  he;  "but  believe  me  I  should 
have  been  gnawing  the  electrolier  and  howling  like 
a  banshee — they  howl,  don't  they? — had  I  stayed 
longer  in  the  storm-center  of  Mr.  Waddy's  pneu 
matic  slumbering.  As  between  annoying  you,  and 
becoming  daft,  one  may  find  difficulty  in  choosing, 
Dennis;  but  self,  self,  Dennis!  I  fear  we  are  all 
selfish!" 

From  his  evident  irritation  at  the  mention  of  his 
"pneumatic  slumbering,"  Carson  guessed  that  the 
shorter  of  Dennis'  companions  was  Mr.  Waddy.  He 
was  blocky  and  strong  in  build,  and  bearded  with 
gray  excrescenses  that  grew  forward  and  upward 
from  all  points,  as  if  eyebrows,  whiskers  and  mus 
tache  had  been  trained  through  a  knot-hole  for  a 
long  time,  and  then  suddenly  cropped  off  and  left 
standing.  He  was  puffing  audibly.  This  labored 
breathing  coupled  with  his  appearance  of  having 
dressed  hurriedly,  gave  him  the  general  effect  of 
one  who  has  leaped  suddenly  from  bed  and  chased 
something  at  high  speed.  He  had  on  a  top-coat  over 
a  dishabille  of  shirt  and  trousers;  on  one  foot  was 


93 

an  arctic  overshoe;  the  other  was  shod  in  a  Welling 
ton  boot.  He  leaned  toward  Craighead  with  a  sort 
of  perplexed  fierceness. 

"Mr.  Craighead,"  said  he,  as  if  carefully  choos 
ing  terms  of  scathing  rebuke.  "I've  seen  all  kinds, 
and  you  do — beat — the — Dutch !" 

"Thank  you,"  said  Mr.  Craighead,  bowing.  "The 
Dutch,  Mr.  Waddy,  are  a  race  not  easily  beaten,  and 
I  am  modest,  as  you  know.  [Yet  in  my  specialties,  I 
may  be  able  to — but,  pardon  me,  Dennis,  have  you 
not  met  my  friend,  Mr.  Carson,  from  Alabama  ?  A 
new  arrival.  Oblivious  of  his  trip  hither.  A  period 
ical,  I  believe.  Mr.  Carson,  Mr.  Dennis  O'Grady; 
Mr.  O'Grady,  Mr.  Carson.  Mr.  O'Grady  is  the  of 
ficial  dispenser  of  dope — " 

"Tonic,  Mr.  Craighead,  if  I  may  correct  you,  sir!" 
said  Mr.  O'Grady,  his  accent  as  correctly  British 
as  his  name  was  Hibernian. 

"Of  course,  Dennis,"  protested  Craighead,  "I 
meant  tonic!  Please  do  me  the  justice  to  believe, 
Mr.  O'Grady,  that  I  meant  tonic!  And  is  this  Mr. 
Carson's  jag-boss?  I  hope  his  slumbers  are  less 
sonorous  than  Mr.  Waddy's,  Mr.  Carson.  I — " 

"Attendant,"  suggested  Mr.  O'Grady  softly. 
"Mr.  Evans  is  the  attendant  of  Mr.  Wylie.  No  doubt 
an  error  on  Mr.  Craighead's  part,  Mr.  Wylie,  but 
we  understand  perfectly  that  you  are  the  Mr.  Wylie 
who  arrived,  very  ill,  last  night,  sir,  and  who  de- 


94      VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

parted  before  we  could  give  him  the  examination 
and  the  formal  admission.  Mr.  Evans  will  attend 
upon  you,  Mr.  Wylie;  and  we  hope,  sir,  to  have  you 
feeling  much  better  in  a  few  days,  sir !" 

"You  are  greatly  mistaken,"  exclaimed  Theodore. 
"I  don't  belong  here  at  all!" 

"Quite  right,  sir!"  responded  Mr.  O'Grady 
heartily.  "Quite  right!  I  am  glad  that  you  are  al 
ready  able  to  see,  sir,  that  you  belong  with  Mr. 
Evans  in  Room  34,  sir,  where  he  will  now  conduct 
you.  Mr.  Craighead,  I  fear,  sir,  that  this  failure  to 
remain  within  bounds  will  force  Doctor  Wither- 
spoon  to — " 

Mr.  O'Grady  ended  this  speech  with  a  dismal 
shake  of  the  head. 

"But  I  am  not  Mr.  Wylie,"  interposed  Carson 
fervently.  "I  don't  know  what  people  are  sentenced 
to  this  place  for,  but  I  am  not  guilty.  I  have  done 
nothing.  I  am  from  Alabama ;  my  name  is  Theodore 
Carson;  I  am  an  engineer — an  inventor;  I — " 

"Pardon  me,"  softly  suggested  Mr.  O'Grady; 
"but  I  find  you  here,  Mr.  Wylie,  where  none  but  in 
mates  can  come." 

"I  dropped  in,"  began  Carson. 

"For  a  social  call,"  supplied  Craighead.  "En 
tirely  plausible,  Mr.  O'Grady,  and  shows  how  es 
sentially  man  is  a  social  being!" 

O'Grady's  face  softened  in  no  line  or  curve.    He 


THE  FALL  THAT  FOLLOWED  PRIDE     95 

was  one  of  those  efficient  persons  to  whom  business 
is  no  joke,  neither  the  proper  subject  of  one. 

"I  dropped  into  this  garden  from  an  aeronat," 
reiterated  Theodore.  "And  I  couldn't  find  my  way 
out." 

"Pardon  me,  Mr.  Wylie,"  protested  O'Grady,  "if 
I  observe  that  that  is  not  a  very  convincing  nar 
rative,  and  quite  disproves  your  claim  to  being  an  in 
ventor,  you  know.  Your  condition,  sir,  is  not  that 
of  a  person  who  has  fallen  from  the  clouds,  you 
know." 

"But  I  have!"  insisted  Carson.  "Literally,  I  fell 
from  the  clouds.  I  came  down  by  parachute." 

"In  the  night,  sir?"  asked  O'Grady.  "And  with 
no  knowledge  of  what  you  were  falling  into  or  on  to, 
sir?" 

"Exactly  so,"  asserted  Carson;  "and  I  really  must 
go  by  the  next — " 

"And  swallowed  your  parachute?"  interpolated 
O'Grady,  still  unsmiling. 

"No!"  cried  Carson,  producing  it  from  under  the 
bench.  "Here  it  is !  I  broke  this  coming  through  the 
tree-tops — see?" 

"I  have  no  knowledge  of  machinery,"  said 
O'Grady.  "But  the  existence  here  of  so  common  a 
contrivance  does  not  at  all  prove  the  absence  of  Mr. 
Wylie ;  and  Mr.  Wylie  is  accounted  for  by  no  per 
sonality  except  your  own,  sir.  The  Slattery  Insti- 


96      VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

tute  loses  no  patients.  You  are  Mr.  Wylie,  or  Mr. 
Wylie  is  lost.  Hence,  sir,  you  are  Mr.  Wylie.  You 
will  not  be  detained  against  your  will,  sir,  longer 
than  is  necessary  for  so  far  getting  it  out  of  your 
system  as  to  enable  you  to  make  a  rational  choice. 
Please  accompany  Mr.  Evans,  and  prepare  for  morn 
ing  treatment.  Mr.  Evans  has  your  tonic.  More 
assistants  will  be  provided  if  you  fail  to  see  the  pro 
priety  of  compliance,  sir.  Good  morning,  sir.  Mr. 
Craighead,  please  go  with  Mr.  Waddy.  I  shall  have 
a  conference  with  Doctor  Witherspoon  as  to  your 
case,  sir." 

Mr.  O'Grady's  calm  commands  carried  with  them 
deep  and  high  suggestions  of  irresistible  force.  He 
was  a  born  autocrat.  Wondering  how  it  would  all 
end,  Theodore  went  with  his  attendant,  walking  in  a 
daze. 

Room  34,  to  which  the  putative  Mr.  Wylie  was 
taken,  was  like  the  ordinary  apartment  of  a  good 
inn,  save  that  it  had  two  beds.  Mr.  Evans  ushered 
young  Mr.  Carson  into  it  as  if  conferring  a  great  fa 
vor  in  thus  naming  him  Wylie,  and  arresting  him  in- 
stanter  under  the  new  cognomen.  He  was  a  brawny 
man  with  a  little  quavering  voice  like  that  of  a 
school-boy  just  bursting  into  tears.  Theodore  took 
his  measure,  and  promptly  decided  that  Evans  could 
break  him  in  two  in  a  clinch,  but  might  be  outrun. 

"Now,  Mr.  Wylie,"  wailed  Mr.  Evans,  in  a  tone 


THE  FALL  THAT  FOLLOWED  PRIDE     97 

that  seemed  to  require  that  the  sentence  be  com 
pleted  with  the  words:  "Don't  whip  me,  sir!  I 
won't  do  it  again ;" — "we'll  get  along  nice,  I  know, 
for  you're  a  gentleman,  an'  you  won't  do  me  no  dirt. 
I'm  an  awful  poor  man;  an'  this  is  my  livin'.  Don't 
ruin  me  an'  put  a  stigmer  on  the  Institute  by  takin' 
any  hikes,  Mr.  Wylie — you  wouldn't,  would  you, 
now?" 

"I  am  not  Mr.  Wylie,"  reiterated  Carson.  "I  am 
Theodore  Carson,  as  I  said;  and  I — " 

"This  matter  of  names  is  so  complicated,"  qua 
vered  Mr.  Evans,  pushing  up  his  cuffs  as  if  about  to 
attempt  some  feat  of  physical  prowess.  "No  man 
drawin'  my  pay  c'n  be  expected  to  work  it  out.  I 
git  awful  small  wages,  Mr.  Wylie!  My  duties  is 
simple.  You  git  your  tonic  an'  treatments  reg'lar, 
an*  keep  hours.  You  git  a  gill  of  whisky  in  a 
bottle  every  night  till  the  tonic  gits  in  its  work. 
Other  treatments  as  per  rules.  A  whole  lot  of  gen 
tlemen  comes  here  under  special  names — I  would ! 
Le's  drop  this  name  discussion,  Mr.  Wylie,  an'  agree 
that  we'll  be  reg'lar  as  per  rules,  an'  you  won't  de 
prive  my  family,  an'  turn  me  out  to  starve,  by  doin' 
me  dirt!" 

Mr.  Craighead  rapped  and  entered.  Evidently 
the  surveillance  of  the  attendants  was  not  of  the 
strictest. 

"I  quite  agree  with  the  remarks  of  my  querulous 


98      VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

friend,  Mr.  Evans — who  should  have  made  public 
mendicancy  his  profession,"  said  Mr.  Craighead. 
"Your  position,  Mr.  Carson,  is  an  equivocal  one. 
Your  presence  or  absence,  Mr.  Wylie,  seems  to  me 
to  be  a  question  purely  academic  in  character,  and 
not  within  the  purview  of  practical  statesmanship. 
You  are  an  inventor.  That  is  conceded.  The  ques 
tion  is,  what's  your  field?" 

"It  is  aeronautics,"  replied  Theodore.  "I  have 
devised  the  first  effective  aeronef.  I — " 

"Very  interesting,"  returned  Craighead.  "I  have 
made  that  a  specialty.  I  know  the  defects  of  the 
present-day  aeronefs;  and  I  understand  the  failure 
of  the  gas-supported  aerostats,  except  as  toys  for  us 
parasitic  capitalists.  But  to  the  point  in  controversy. 
Are  you  the  Fulton  of  the  empyrean,  or  the  Edison 
of  the  hot  air?  Mr.  Evans'  porcine  tonality  has  ex 
pressed  the  only  conclusion  open  to  him — to  accept 
the  Wylie  theory  as  a  working  hypothesis,  and  to 
work  it  at  the  regular  per  diem.  Dost  foller  me?" 

"I  suppose  that  this  Wylie  must  turn  up,  sooner 
or  later,"  mused  Theodore.  "But  why  should  I  take 
treatment?  What  are  you — I  mean,  what  are  people 
cured  of  here,  anyhow?" 

"A  very  difficult  question,"  replied  Craighead. 
"My  first  difference  with  Doctor  Witherspoon,  now 
unhappily  culminating  in  a  diplomatic  impasse, 
grew  out  of  my  desire  to  discuss  with  him  that  very 


THE  FALL  THAT  FOLLOWED  PRIDE     99 

question.  He  said  with  crude  brutality  for  me  to 
move  on,  and  let  the  other  jags  come  within  the 
radio-activity  of  his  million  H.  P.  thought-wavery. 
The  first  question  is,  are  we  cured  of  anything? 
That  being  disposed  of — a  matter  not  so  easy  as 
might  be  thought — the  question  rises  to  a  higher 
plane,  and  bores  its  snoot  right  down  into  the  roots 
of  things.  We  hit  hard-pan  in  the  unsearchableness 
of  ultimate  phenomena.  Teleologically — " 

"What  do  they  do  to  you?"  persisted  Theodore. 

"They  give  you  dope;  they  feed  you  for  a  few 
days  on  bran  mash;  they  shoot  you  twice  a  day; 
they  give  you  a  little  bottle  to  assuage  what  they, 
call  your  thirst  the  first  night  or  so,  though  why 
they  call  that  a  thirst  which  is  only  a  cerebrospinal 
tendency  entirely  unconnected  with  irrigation,  de 
ponent  saith  not.  The  dope  is  the  summation  of  all 
villainies — and  that's  no  ribald  bar-room  jest,  eyther 
or  either;  but  I  am  assured  that  it  heals  the  sick 
and  makes  the  well  a  harder  physical  proposition 
from  moment  to  moment.  The  shooting  will  do  no 
harm.  They  might  use  dish-water,  and  it  would  do 
just  as  much  good.  I  don't  say  it  is  dish-water — 
Witherspoon  guards  his  sacred  secret  well — but  it 
won't  do  you  any  more  harm  than  would  that  by 
product  of  the  scullery.  Altogether,  you'll  find  it 
wilier  to  be  Wylie.  Let's  to  breakfast." 

Breakfast!    Here  was  something  to  be  "under- 


loo    VIRGINIA    OF   THE    AIR    LANES 

standed  of  the  people."  Carson  was  famishing. 
Swallowing  the  yellowish  "summation  of  all  vil 
lainies"  presented  tearfully  by  Mr.  Evans,  he  took 
the  arm  which  Craighead  ceremoniously  offered, 
and  walked  down  a  broad  stairway  ornamented  with 
potted  palms,  and  through  a  spacious  lobby,  in  which 
a  clerk  behind  a  desk,  a  platoon  of  bell-boys,  and 
groups  of  ordinary  citizens,  clothed,  and  apparently 
in  their  right  minds,  imparted  an  impression  almost 
amounting  to  a  guaranty  that  the  place  was  only  a 
hotel.  They  entered  a  cafe,  where  Mr.  Craighead 
moved  to  a  table  already  half  occupied,  with  a  fa 
miliarity  born  of  use. 

"I  bring  with  me,  gentlemen,"  said  he  airily, 
to  two  men  who  had  preceded  them,  "a  fellow-lover 
of  the  hortus  nocturnus.  Greet  him  with  the  grand 
hailing  sign !" 

"I  didn't  know,"  said  one,  "that  they  treated  them 
cases  here." 

"They  do,  Mr.  Bascom,"  returned  Mr.  Craighead; 
"but,  thank  whatever  gods  there  be,  they  can't  cure 
them !  What  they  lack  here  is  sense  of  humor,  Mr. 
Bascom.  Let  me  introduce  my  friend  Mr.  Carson- 
Wylie,  of  Piccadilly." 

"Glad  to  meet  you,  Mr.  Carson-Wylie,"  said  Mr. 
Bascom,  stirring  his  soft-boiled  eggs;  "and  I  hope 
they  do  you  as  much  good  here  as  they  have  me." 

"Thank  you,"  replied  Carson.   "But  the  fact  is — " 


THE  FALL  THAT  FOLLOWED  PRIDE     101 

"But  me  no  buts,"  broke  in  Craighead.  "I  think 
I  may  venture,  among  friends,  to  say  that  Mr.  Bas- 
com  is  our  most  popular  freak.  He  had  read  the 
seventy-fourth  Rubaiyat,  which  saith : 

"  'Drink !  for  you  know  not  whence  you  come,  nor 

why! 
Drink,  for  you  know  not  why  you  go,  nor  where!' 

— and  made  a  whole-hearted  endeavor  to  fol 
low  its  teachings.  He  succeeded  in  the  realiza 
tion  of  the  Tent-Maker's  inability  to  state  whence 
he  came  nor  why,  why  he  went,  nor  where,  or,  in 
fact,  whether  he  was  going  or  coming.  But  in  the 
matter  of  financing  further  obedience  to  Mr.  Omar's 
bibulous  teachings,  he  was,  to  coin  a  phrase,  up 
against  it.  Hence,  he  marketed  the  plugs  in  his 
teeth.  Mr.  Bascom  is  passionately  fond  of  Khay 
yam." 

"Never  under  no  such  fancy  name,"  replied  Mr. 
Bascom  gravely;  "but  I've  been  fond  of  most  every 
thing  that  would  make  the  drunk  come." 

"That  includes  Khayyam,"  responded  Craighead. 

"It  was  this  way,"  went  on  Bascom.  "If  you're  a 
periodical,  Mr.  Carson-Wylie — " 

"I  assure  you,"  asserted  Mr.  Craighead,  "that  in 
London,  where  Mr.  Carson-Wylie  is  forced  to  live 
in  order  to  keep  his  hyphen  healthy,  he  is  rated  in 
the  best  asylums  as  a  periodical." 


102    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

"Then  you  will  understand,"  resumed  Mr.  Bas- 
com,  "that,  after  being  drunk  in  Peoria  for  six 
weeks  I  was  in  kind  of  bad  shape.  Clothes  gone; 
took  both  hands  to  get  a  glass  to  my  mouth ;  kicked 
out  of  places;  had  some  fits — ever  have  a  whisky 
fit?" 

"Never!"  cried  Theodore. 

Mr.  Bascom  was  a  venerable-looking  man  with  a 
William  Cullen  Bryant  beard  and  a  lofty  forehead. 
To  see  him  looking  so  like  a  poet  and  hear  him  dis 
course  of  his  debaucheries,  sickened  Theodore.  But 
Mr.  Bascom  continued  like  another  Ulysses  telling 
of  windier  wars  than  those  of  Troy. 

"The  tortures  of  hell,"  said  he,  "are  vaudeville 
skits  to  'em.  I  had  sold  my  sample  cases — I  was 
traveling  out  of  Bloomington  for  Fuller  and  Ful 
ler—" 

"How  appropriate !"  ejaculated  Craighead. 

"And,"  went  on  Bascom,  "hocked  everything 
loose.  Now,  when  those  whisky  fits  come  on  you  have 
to  have  booze.  I  had  made  friends  with  a  highway 
man,  an'  he  loaned  me  a  little  dirk,  stood  by  to 
keep  me  from  cutting  my  throat  while  I  dug  the 
gold  out  of  my  teeth,  sold  it,  and  accounted  for 
every  cent.  He  was  a  good  feller  for  a  highway 
man." 

"That  shows,"  interposed  the  fourth  man,  "how 
we  jags  are  foreve'  hangin'  by  a  tow  string  ove'  the 


THE  FALL  THAT  FOLLOWED  PRIDE     103 

aidge  of  hell,  an'  makin'  bets  whether  it'll  burn  off 
or  not!  I  tell  you,  I  shivah — " 

"I  join  in  the  shiver,"  said  Craighead.  "I  often — 
I  beg  your  pardon ;  Colonel  McGilvray,  permit  me 
to  make  you  acquainted  with  Mr.  Carson-Wylie,  of 
Belgrave  Square,  London.  Colonel  McGilvray  is  the 
scourge  of  his  home  county,  Mr.  Carson-Wylie,  and 
is  here  being  denaturized." 

"I'm  right  pleased  to  know  you,"  said  the  colonel. 
"And  I  want  to  encourage  you  to  stick  when  you 
get  out,  Mr.  Ca'son-Wylie.  I  am  not — if  Mr.  Craig- 
head  will  allow  me — the  scourge  of  my  county; 
but  my  kin  thah  feared  I  was  gittin'  so  I  could  shoot 
single-mindedly  while  seein'  double,  an'  they-all 
presented  a  petition,  suh,  askin*  me  to  come  hyah; 
an'  I'm  hyah  as  a  public  duty." 

Colonel  McGilvray  was  not  the  last  to  urge  upon 
Carson  the  advisability  of  "sticking"  when  he  got 
out.  The  inmates  gathered  about  him  after  break 
fast  and  labored  with  him  as  the  "workers"  in  an 
old-fashioned  protracted  meeting  wrestled  for  the 
salvation  of  souls.  There  was  really  something  fine 
in  this. 

He  assured  them  of  his  good  intentions.  He  was 
rendered  humble  and  almost  bashful  by  the  hope 
lessness  of  trying  to  extricate  himself  from  his 
equivocal  position  owing  to  his  unthinkable  manner 
of  getting  into  the  Institute,  and  the  maze  of  fanci- 


104    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

ful  misrepresentations  of  Mr.  Craighead.  So  he  lis 
tened  and  thanked  them.  A  man  with  locomotor 
ataxia  said  that  he  was  ten  years  younger  since  com 
ing—and  went  away,  carefully  calculating  at  every 
step  just  where  he  would  put  his  feet  next,  and  in 
variably  setting  them  unexpectedly  elsewhere.  A 
distinguished-appearing  personage  was  pointed  out 
as  a  railway  president  taking  the  cure  at  the  request 
of  his  company.  Another  had  wasted  six  fortunes 
in  succession.  That  fine-looking  man  had  been  here 
before  and  relapsed  through  the  accidental  taking 
of  Jamaica  ginger,  while  ill.  And  a  jewelry  sales 
man  pointed  out  Craighead  as  a  mighty  bright  fel 
low  who  was  crazy  and  wouldn't  observe  the  rules, 
and  would  be  fired  by  Doctor  Witherspoon.  Carson 
felt  that  he  should  never,  never  stand  in  need  of  fur 
ther  admonition  to  temperance  than  the  memory  of 
this  Sargasso  Sea  of  the  derelicts  of  drink. 

"There's  a  new  fellow  here,"  said  the  jewelry 
man.  "I  haven't  seen  him ;  but  he  came  in  stinking 
paralyzed  last  night,  and  was  found  boozing  with 
Craighead  in  the  greenhouse  this  morning.  Seen 
him?" 


CHAPTER  V 

THE   MYSTERY  OF  THE  EMPORIUM 

YOUNG  Mr.  Carson,  detained  at  the  Slattery 
Institute  to  balance  the  books,  on  account  of 
the  e vanishment  of  Mr.  Wylie,  thought 
often  of  Shayne's  charming  niece,  but,  man-like, 
gave  scarcely  a  thought  to  the  situation  on  board 
the  Roc,  as  she  bore  northward  in  the  night  sky, 
after  dropping  him  as  a  hawk  might  let  fall  a  too 
belligerent  weasel.  Theodore's  visualizations  of  the 
party  he  had  left  were  narrowly  confined  to  a  hat,  a 
face  peering  over  the  Roc's  rail,  and  a  last  hand 
clasp  in  the  high  mists.  All  the  rest  was  a  blot  on  a 
page  he  would  fain  have  white,  a  dissonance  in  a 
harmony  he  wished  perfect. 

Yet  the  warfare  and  insurrection  which  he  left  be 
hind  would  have  interested  him  had  he  known.  Mr. 
Silberberg,  hurt  in  amour  propre  as  well  as  probos 
cis,  was  deeply  disturbed  in  his  sultanic  regard  for 
Virginia.  He  was  too  angry  to  follow  her  to  the 
deck,  as  she  swept  out  of  the  cabin  to  take  leave  of 
her  bandit  of  the  dunes ;  Mr.  Shayne  was  too  busy 

105 


1 06    VIRGINIA    OF.   THE   AIR    LANES 

quieting  the  shaken  nerves  of  Mrs.  Shayne  to  think 
of  aught  else;  so  for  some  minutes  the  girl  lay,  half 
fainting,  wholly  terrified,  by  the  rail  where  she  had 
fallen  as  Theodore  dropped  over  the  side  into  the 
cloud  and  the  night. 

"Where  is  Virginia?"  queried  Aunt  Marie,  at 
last,  pushing  from  her  nose  the  vinaigrette  with 
which  the  agonized  Shayne  was  plying  it.  "Don't 
force  it  into  my  nostrils — dear !  Has  she  eloped  with 
that  creature?" 

"She  went  on  deck,"  said  Shayne  reassuringly. 
"No,  my  dear,  she  couldn't — from  up  here,  you 
know!" 

"Finley !"  said  Mrs.  Shayne,  "look  for  her!  She's 
my  niece,  after  all !  If  she  has  run  away — " 

"But  Marie,  dearest,"  protested  Shayne,  "she 
couldn't !  We're  a  mile  high  in  the  air,  you  know !" 

"What  does  a  man  know,"  exclaimed  Mrs. 
Shayne,  growing  agitated  again,  "about  affairs  of 
the  heart?  I  tell  you,  she's  gone!  Look  for  her! 
Look  for  her!" 

Mr.  Shayne,  in  an  agony  of  anxiety,  called  Mrs. 
Shayne's  maid  and  gave  orders  that  Virginia  be 
sought  on  deck.  The  maid  looked  about  hastily,  and 
failing  to  observe  the  little  heap  in  which  Virginia 
sat  huddled  up  by  the  rail,  ran  in  agitatedly  and 
said  that  Miss  Suarez  was  not  on  deck  "in  the  least." 

"I  told  you !"  gasped  Mrs.  Shayne.  "Ah !  Finley, 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  THE  EMPORIUM     107 

you  never  did  understand  a  woman's  nature !  She's 
thrown  herself  away !" 

"Nonsense!"  said  Silberberg,  who  had  walked 
glumly  in  from  his  cabin.  "Did  you  look  aft?" 

"No,"  said  the  maid,  applying  her  handkerchief 
to  her  eyes.  "Miss  Suarez  would  never  go  back 
there,  sir!" 

"She'd  go  anywhere — " 

So  far  Mr.  Silberberg  got,  stopped  and  recom 
menced. 

"This  assassin,"  said  he,  "must  be  aft  with  the 
crew.  There's  only  one  place  where  Miss  Suarez 
can  be!" 

"Go,  Finley !"  cried  Mrs.  Shayne,  "and  rescue  the 
wayward  child  before  it  is  too  late !" 

Without  pausing  to  think  of  the  exact  nature  of 
the  dreadful  thing  which  could  make  it  too  late,  Mr. 
Shayne  ran  aft  and  astonished  the  crew  by  bursting 
into  their  midst  and  staring  .wildly  about  as  if  de 
mented.  Willett  took  his  eye  from  the  chart  he  was 
plotting,  removed  his  goggles  from  the  top  of  his 
head  and  hung  them  up  quite  with  the  air  of  a  man 
clearing  his  decks  for  action. 

"What  is  it,  sir?"  he  asked  calmly. 

"Where  is  Miss  Suarez?"  panted  Mr.  Shayne. 

"I  don't  know,  sir,"  replied  Willett. 

"Where's  that  fellow  we  picked  up?"  demanded 
Shayne. 


io8    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

"The  young  engineer?"  queried  Willett,  as  if  to 
draw  a  distinction. 

"The  hound  we  picked  up !"  roared  Shayne.  "You 
know  who  I  mean  !  Where  is  he?" 

"I  don't  know,"  responded  Willett. 

"Haven't  they  been  aft?"  interrogated  Shayne, 
"either  of  them?  He  or  Miss  Suarez?  They  must 
be  here !  Confound  it,  where  are  they,  men  ?  They 
aren't  anywhere  else.  They  must  be  aft  here  with 
you!" 

Of  this  very  logical  statement  the  crew  made 
earnest  and  serious  denial,  seeing  how  almost  hys 
terical  their  commander  was.  Really,  no  denial  was 
required,  as  Mr.  Shayne's  eyes  showed  him  at  once 
the  absence  of  the  pair  he  sought  and  the  truthful-' 
ness  of  his  men. 

"They're  gone!"  he  exclaimed,  rushing  into  the 
cabin.  "Max,  they've  gone  over  the  side !" 

"That  parachute,"  said  Max,  "couldn't  save  two 
from  death,  even  if  they  made  a  good  drop.  And 
in  this  darkness — " 

Virginia,  having  recovered  her  self-possession 
and  the  control  of  her  knees,  rose,  peered  off  into  the 
gloom  for  a  few  minutes,  as  if  to  gain  another 
glimpse  of  her  falling  preserver,  and  entering  her 
cabin,  threw  herself  on  her  bed.  She  knew  not  that 
she  was  supposed  to  be  lost,  or  that  this  very  spot 
had  been  searched  for  her  until  further  examination 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  THE  EMPORIUM     109 

of  it  was  not  thought  of.  She  felt  a  horror  of  Sil 
berberg,  a  sense  of  disgust  with  the  Shaynes.  To 
think  that  they  could  so  insult  this  young  man  who 
had  saved  her  life  and  treated  her  so  beautifully,  no 
matter  what  he  was !  Couldn't  they  see  that  he  was 
superior  to  any  of  them,  were  he  a  thousand  times  a 
smuggler  or  pirate — if  there  were  such  things  as 
pirates?  To  offer  him  money !  To  send  him  aft  like 
a  servant!  No  wonder  he  had  struck  Silberberg's 
odious  nose:  the  wonder  was,  considering  his  wild 
and  untamable  nature,  that  he  had  not  torn  both 
Max  and  her  uncle  limb  from  limb!  The  wonder 
was  that  he  had  not  made  Silberberg  and  Shayne 
walk  the  plank,  subdued  the  crew,  put  Aunt  Marie 
off  at  some  safe  place  and  flown  in  the  captured  and 
perverted  Roc  to  some  verdurous,  languorous,  sensu 
ous  tropical  island,  there  to — 

Miss  Suarez  awoke  from  a  nap  and  was  glad  to 
assure  herself  that  the  ecstasy  with  which  she  had 
contemplated  the  commandeering  of  the  Roc — and 
herself — by  the  young  bandit,  was  one  of  those  in 
versions  of  feeling  to  which,  in  dreams,  we  are  so 
prone.  She  rose,  preened  like  a  bird  before  the  mir 
ror,  and  sat  down  to  think.  The  voices  of  her  uncle 
and  aunt  and  Mr.  Silberberg  came  to  her  ears  from 
the  main  salon.  Opening  her  window  for  air,  she 
noted  that  the  roar  of  the  wind  from  the  earth  had 
ceased,  and  knew  that  they  had  reached  the  calm 


i  io    VIRGINIA    OF   THE    AIR    LANES 

area,  of  which  Willett  had  spoken,  in  the  middle 
of  the  "low."  They  would  probably  have  an  easy 
landing  in  Chicago.  And  then? 

One  thing  was  certain :  she  would  not  live  longer 
with  the  Shaynes.  They  were  too  sordid,  too  hard, 
too  cruel.  They  looked  upon  her  too  much  as  an 
animal  to  be  sold.  They  had  insulted — some  one. 
They  had  insulted  her  by  acting  as  if  she  could  care 
anything  for  the  young  fellow  who  had  saved  her. 
And  she  would  —  not  —  stay — with  —  them  —  any 
longer! 

These  words  she  emphasized  by  rhythmically 
clenching  and  opening  her  hands.  She  was  quite 
fiercely  resolved.  She  would  leave  them  and  teach 
school  or  paint  miniatures — or  something. 

Oh !  If  she  only  had  just  one  relative  in  the  v/orld 
save  Aunt  Marie! 

Stay !  The  thought  struck  her  of  her  mother's 
father's  people,  somewhere  in  the  south.  Her  mother 
had  been  disowned  by  her  family  for  a  perversely 
contracted  marriage;  but  they  were  southerners, 
and  they  would  not  see  an  orphan  girl  of  their  kin 
go  homeless.  Her  grandfather  was  long  since  dead; 
land  just  who  might  represent  the  family  now,  she 
had  no  idea;  but  she  would  nevertheless  find  out 
where  they  lived,  and  go  to  them.  She  would  ask 
to  be  cared  for  until  she  could  find  employment.  She 
would  not  humiliate  herself  by  staying  with  the 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  THE  EMPORIUM  in 

Shaynes  and  the  Silberbergs  longer.  She  would 
leave  Aunt  Marie  a  note  of  thanks  for  all  her  many 
kindnesses,  take  her  really,  truly  own  belongings, 
and  fly  south.  So  there! 

So  resolving,  she  became  quite  calm,  and  walked 
into  the  main  salon  in  a  very  matter-of-fact  way. 
Aunt  Marie  gave  a  shrill  scream  and  fainted.  Sil- 
berberg  said  that  he  would  be — tormented.  Mr. 
Shayne  stared  blankly  and  reached  automatically 
for  his  wife's  smelling  salts,  which  he  applied,  at 
first,  to  the  swollen  nose  of  his  guest. 

"Well!"  said  Virginia,  "do  you  think  I  am  a 
ghost?" 

"Oh,  child!"  gasped  Aunt  Marie,  "where  have 
you  been  with  him?" 

Virginia  stood  still,  her  eyes  ablaze,  her  cheeks 
burning.  The  Roc  was  coming  into  the  Chicago 
garage  on  the  roof  of  the  Aerostatic  Power  Build 
ing,  in  a  most  beautiful  landing;  but  none  of  the 
party  knew  it.  Silberberg  was  gazing  at  the  enraged 
Virginia  in  unbounded  admiration — her  splendid 
anger  had  won  him  back.  Shayne  spoke  in  foolish 
agreement  with  his  wife,  half  believing  for  the  mo 
ment  that  there  was  something  questionable  in  Vir 
ginia's  absence. 

"With  a  beggar !"  said  he. 

"A  bandit !"  said  Aunt  Marie,  "an  assassin !" 

"A  beggar!"  repeated  Virginia,  in  lofty  scorn. 


112    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

"Why,  even  if  he  were  one,  in  rags  and  a  hovel,  he'd 
be  worth  a  million  like  you !  An  assassin !  Why 
he's  the  purest,  noblest  man  in  the  world !  If  he  ever 
draws  a  weapon,  it's  against  a  society  that  has  driven 
him  out  from  it  by  its  vileness.  A  bandit!  And  if 
he  is,  what  are  you?  You  rob  by  syndicate,  assassi 
nate  by  general  managers  and  superintendents,  and 
make  beggars  by  votes  of  shares !  I  loathe  you,  and 

I  1 I  admire  him  as  much  as  I  loathe  you.  As 

between  bandits  like  you  and  bandits  like  him,  give 
me  the  brave  man  rather  than  the  coward !" 

Mrs.  Shayne,  restored,  rose,  stood,  and  was  ad 
vancing  upon  Virginia  with  reproof  in  her  mien, 
when  Willett  interrupted  the  scene  by  announcing 
their  successful  landing.  They  passed  constrainedly 
into  the  tower,  went  down  to  the  street,  and  to 
Shayne's  Chicago  hotel  in  a  motor-car,  all  in  si 
lence.  Virginia  bowed  and  retired.  Silberberg  shook 
hands  solemnly  with  his  host  and  hostess,  as  in  the 
presence  of  an  affliction  too  great  for  words,  and  left 
them. 

In  the  morning  two  letters  were  taken  to  the 
Shayne  apartments — one  for  Mr.  Shayne  from  Sil 
berberg,  saying  that  "under  all  the  circumstances" 
he  thought  it  better  to  leave  them  and  go  to  New 
York,  where  his  business  really  required  his  pres 
ence. 

The  other  was  a  short,  tear-stained  missive  of 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  THE  EMPORIUM     113 

gratitude,  penitence  and  farewell  from  Virginia  to 
her  aunt. 

"You  have  been  as  kind  to  me,"  it  ran,  "as  any 
woman  can  be  to  a  person  she  can  not  love.  You 
have  never  loved  me,  Aunt  Marie,  and  you  will 
never  see  me  again.  I  blush  to  be  obliged  by  your 
unjust  suspicions  to  say  one  thing  more.  I  am  not 
going  to  any  one.  You  have  misjudged  me  terribly. 
I  don't  even  know  where  he  is.  I  shall  never  know !" 

And  so  it  was,  that  while  Carson  stayed  on  with 
Mr.  Craighead  at  the  Institute,  Virginia,  with  flut 
tering  heart  but  steadfast  purpose,  fled  southward 
to  kinsmen  whose  very  existence  she  was  obliged 
to  assume.  Young  Mr.  Carson,  a  prisoner  of  the 
perfect  system  of  the  Slattery  Institute,  had 
caused  all  this,  and  knew  nothing  of  it.  So  it  has 
ever  been  since  knights — aye,  and  pages,  too — rode 
through  the  land  and  left  trouble  behind  the  case 
ments  from  which  beamed  ladies'  eyes.  Methanose 
and  mechanical  flight  haven't  made  a  particle  of  dif 
ference. 

Craighead  and  Carson  walked  through  a  stately 
peristyle,  to  a  low  building  called  the  laboratory, 
but  termed  by  the  patients  the  "shot-tower."  Theo 
dore  was  astonished  at  the  throng  assembled  for  the 


114    VIRGINIA    OF   THE    AIR    LANES 

"shot"  treatment  of  which  he  had  as  yet  no  concep 
tion — men  of  all  sorts,  anxiously  watching  the  clock, 
like  school-boys  fearful  of  being  tardy.  They 
formed  in  two  columns,  resting  on  two  aisles,  across 
the  farther  ends  of  which  stood  two  desks,  exactly 
alike.  All  slung  their  coats  over  their  right  arms, 
disclosing  slits  in  their  shirts  at  the  left  shoulder. 

Craighead,  with  Carson  and  Bascom  following, 
sent  back  ripples  of  disorder  along  the  line  by  offer 
ing  bets  as  to  whether  Carson  was  himself  or  Wylie. 
Two  young  men,  easily  classified  as  new-hatched 
physicians,  stationed  themselves  like  sentinels  at  the 
desks;  the  clock  struck;  there  was  a  jostling  at  the 
rear  caused  by  late  comers,  at  which  the  serious 
young  doctors  frowned  fiercely;  the  lines  moved 
forward ;  and  the  men,  as  they  passed  the  physicians, 
seemed  to  undergo  some  sort  of  operation,  performed 
by  means  of  glittering  instruments  of  which  Theo 
dore  caught  glimpses  like  lightning  playing  about 
those  slitted  shirt-sleeves.  Once  beyond  this  ordeal 
the  patients  threw  on  their  coats  and  passed  on  to 
an  imposing,  smooth-shaven  man  to  the  left,  who 
gave  to  each  a  handshake,  and  something  the  sort 
of  audience  that  the  populace  gets  at  a  presidential 
reception — excepting  that  the  president  is  not  in  the 
habit  of  looking  at  the  tongues  of  his  constituents, 
nor  of  feeling  their  pulses,  save  in  a  way  purely 
figurative. 

Theodore  found  himself  in  the  human  current, 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  THE  EMPORIUM    1115 

and  drifted  with  it.  On  closer  view,  he  saw  that  the 
doctors  pricked  the  patients  with  little,  glittering 
weapons;  but  he  reasoned  that  it  could  be  nothing 
very  severe.  More  than  any  of  the  others,  however, 
Craighead  seemed  to  shrink  from  it 

"Any  locomotor  ataxia  germs  on  that  stabber?" 
he  queried,  "or  cancer — or  any  of  the  extras  of  the 
curriculum?" 

The  doctor  frowned  as  he  reached  for  a  syringe. 

"What  did  I  tell  you?"  asked  Craighead  as  the 
physician  received  his  inquiry  with  professional 
gloom.  "No  more  humor  than  a  hearse-drivers' 
union — ouch !" 

With  this  sincere  protest  against  the  stab  of  the 
needle,  Craighead  passed  on,  and  Carson  took  his 
place.  The  doctor  looked  searchingly  in  his  face, 
seemed  puzzled,  and  reached  to  another  region  of 
the  tray  for  a  syringe. 

"You  should  have  rolled  up  your  sleeve,  or  cut 
it,"  said  he  sternly.  "Roll  it  up." 

Theodore  rolled  up  his  sleeve,  whereupon,  with  an 
expertness  quite  startling,  the  man  of  medicine 
pinched  up  a  bit  of  the  brown  flesh,  shoved  in  the 
needle,  pressed  down  the  piston ;  and  Theodore  was 
"shot."  With  a  stinging  in  his  arm,  and  wondering 
as  to  the  why  of  it  all — though  he  knew  by  this  time 
that  he  had  dropped  out  of  the  night  sky  into  full 
membership  in  a  drink  cure  establishment — he 
passed  on. 


116    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

The  imposing,  smooth-shaven  man  was  the  great 
Doctor  Witherspoon.  He  met  each  patient  with  a 
standardized  smile,  clasped  each  hand  with  a  grip 
of  absolute  uniformity,  and  said:  "Good  morning, 
Mr.  Bascom" — or  whatever  the  name  might  be. 
"And  how  is  the  appetite  this  morning?  And  the 
tongue,  please.  Pulse  regular,  I  observe.  Have  you 
had  your  constitutional  this  morning?  Improving 
nicely,  Mr.  Bascom.  Good  morning!"  But  he  met 
Mr.  Craighead  with  a  frown  instead  of  a  smile. 

"Please  stand  aside,  Mr.  Craighead,"  said  he;  "I 
wish  to  talk  with  you !" 

"The  bowstring,  the  scimitar,  or  the  Grand 
Viziership  with  the  title  of  Emeritus  Superintendent 
of  Dope,  O  Illustrissimo?"  inquired  Craighead.  "Or 
wasn't  my  jogfry  done  right?" 

Doctor  Witherspoon  was  holding  out  his  hand 
to  Theodore,  smiling  the  standardized  smile,  some 
what  hardened  at  the  Craighead  irreverence. 

"Good  morning,  Mr. — Mr. — " 

"Allow  me,"  said  Craighead  suavely.  "Let  me 
present  Mr.  Carson-Wylie  of  'Yphen  Court,  'Yde 
Park  Terrace,  Lon'on.  The  bets  are  even  as  to 
whether  Mr.  Carson-Wylie  came  in  a  day-coach  and 
a  trance  last  evening,  or  dropped  from  an  air-ship 
in  the  night  and  was  treed  by  old  Tige,  whose  hon 
est  bark  terrifies  all  who  do  not  know  that  his  is  a 
case  of  vox,  et  prceterea  nihil.  Mr.  Carson,  Doctor 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  THE  EMPORIUM     117 

Witherspoon.  Tell  the  doctor  the  secrets  of  your 
alimentary  canal,  Mr.  Wylie.  Know  each  other." 

Paraphrasing  a  Departmental  Ditty,  "Red  and 
ever  redder  grew  the  doctor's  shaven  gill,"  as  he 
stood  in  horror  and  indignation  contemplating  this 
lost  creature,  so  far  below  the  ordinary  D.  T.  victim 
as  to  stand  and  so  brave  him,  here  in  his  hold,  his 
vassals  near — in  the  very  laboratory.  The  patients 
stared  in  amazement.  The  great  doctor  could 
scarcely  credit  his  own  impression,  he  was  so  out 
raged  and  upset.  Yet,  never  for  a  moment  did  the 
iron  discipline  relax.  The  doctor  looked  at  Mr. 
O'Grady,  who,  like  a  silent  and  substantial  ghost, 
floated  forward,  wafted  Mr.  Craighead  to  an  inner 
door  which  closed  behind  him  as  the  portals  of  the 
Inquisition  might  shut  in  some  doomed  heretic. 

"Good  morning,  Mr.  Wylie,"  said  the  doctor, 
"and  is  the  appetite  better?  Put  out  your  pulse, 
please.  Tongue  very  regular,  considering  last  night, 
Mr.  Wylie.  Don't  omit  your  exercise;  and  no  more 
nights  in  the  greenhouse,  Mr.  Wylie !  Good  morn- 
ing!" 

If  any  one  noticed  the  transposition  of  tongue  and 
pulse  in  the  ritual,  nobody  allowed  himself  the  lux 
ury  of  a  smile;  and  the  routine  of  the  great  drink 
cure  went  on.  Carson  departed,  now  fully  resolved 
to  escape. 

He  went  with  Mr.  Evans  for  a  long  walk  through 


ii8    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

the  country  town.  Mr.  Evans'  pleadings  had  made 
him  reluctant  to  run  away — he  saw  the  Evans  fam 
ily  dying  one  by  one  of  inanition  if  he  did — but  he 
must  get  away.  He  might  appeal  to  Doctor  Wither- 
spoon;  but  he  felt  that  the  unconvincing  story  of 
his  arrival  must  be  received  with  incredulity  by 
that  great  man's  thoroughly  practical  mind.  The  de 
parture  of  Carson  would  throw  the  books  out  of 
balance.  A  credit  item  of  one  man  was  demanded. 
Theodore  supplied  the  man.  The  accounting  de 
partment  would  refuse  to  adopt  the  incredible  no 
tion  that  he  was  Carson,  who  had  dropped  from 
the  clouds,  thus  forcing  the  corollary  that  Wylie 
had  vanished  into  thin  air. 

He  allowed  these  things  so  to  depress  his  spirits 
that  he  was  glad  of  the  arrival  that  evening  of  Mr. 
Craighead,  from  whose  excited  manner  Theodore 
surmised  that  something  unusual  might  have  hap 
pened. 

"You,"  said  he,  "are  a  Latinist,  Mr.  Wylie?" 

"Not  a  very  profound  one,"  replied  Carson.  "We 
engineers  are  stronger  in  the  modern  languages, 
you  know." 

"A  mistake,"  replied  Craighead.  "I've  made  a 
specialty  of  the  educational  value  of  the  dead  ones. 
Sort  of  sympathy  with  'em,  you  know.  Maybe  you 
can  give  me  the  passive  form  of  the  Latin  verb 
'possum,  however  ?  Possum,  meaning  'can.' ' 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  THE  EMPORIUM     119 

"Possum"  repeated  Carson.  "Why,  it  hasn't  any 
passive." 

"It  hasn't?"  groaned  Craighead.  "Stung  again! 
But  I  must  have  the  passive  of  possum  for  the  motto 
of  my  armorial  crest.  "Possum"  'can,'  passive  'to  be 
canned' — my  highest  achievement.  Fair  youth,  look 
upon  me!" 

Obeying,  Carson  noted  that  he  still  wore  the 
evening  waistcoat,  the  colored  shirt,  the  frock  coat, 
and  the  checked  trousers — and  that  he  had  thrown 
himself  into  a  despairing  attitude  with  his  ringers 
clutched  in  his  hair. 

"In  me,"  he  went  on,  "you  see  the  world's  most 
symmetrical  character.  To  but  one  vocation  have  I 
e'er  been  true — tinware!  To  that  am  I  ever  at 
tached.  Fired  from  the  kindergarten,  for  what? 
For  becoming  bored  by  basketry  and  piling  straws, 
and  heading  a  revolt.  I  never  finished  aught,  save 
matters  better  never  undertaken.  I  was  six  months 
shy,  to  coin  a  word,  of  graduation  at  the  village 
high  school.  At  the  eleventh  hour  and  fifty-ninth 
minute  was  I  expunged  from  my  maligna  mater. 
The  diplomas  to  which  I  am  almost  entitled  would 
paper  this  room.  I  thought  expulsion  from  Rat 
Mort  the  limit ;  but  now,  I  am  canned  hence  because 
I  am  corrupting  the  morals  of  the  inebriates !  Is  it 
not  the  height,  the  crown,  the  apex  of  infamy,  the 
ultra  rays  of  the  spectrum  of  disgrace?  I  sympa- 


120    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

thize  with  Mr.  Tomlinson,  of  Berkeley  Square.  I 
see  in  his  post-mortem  career  a  prophecy  of  mine 
own!  But,  old  sport,  what  a  wonderfully  and  un- 
surpassably  complete  structure  it  makes  of  my  char 
acter!" 

"It  is  too  bad — "  began  Carson. 

"Too  bad?"  interrupted  Craighead.  "Ow,  down't 
put  it  that  strong,  owld  chap !  But  it  is  pronouncedly 
unpleasant,  down't  y'  kneow."  And  then  with  tragic 
intensity  he  concluded:  "In  the  world's  fields  of 
highest  endeavor,  many  are  called,  but  few  are 
chosen.  My  unique  claim  to  distinction,  sir,  is  in 
this,  that,  whatsoever  ta-ran-ta-ra  the  bugles  blow, 
I,  Craighead,  remain  the  Great  Uncalled!  Me  for 
the  blind  baggage  and  the  tomato-can  hat — Happy 
Hooligan  Craighead,  minus  the  happiness.  Begone 
dull  fun !  Tears,  happy  tears !  And  eke,  O  ye  tears ! 
Great  jumping  genuflexionists,  what  a  world !" 

"But,"  ventured  Theodore,  in  a  sincere  desire  to 
comfort  his  friend,  "you've  had  the  treatment,  you 
know!" 

"True,  Eliphaz-Zophar — nay,  I  will  dub  thee 
Elihu,  for  you  have  not  been  cured  of  your  right  to 
call  yourself  a  Boozite  or  a  Gittite  still — true,  I  have 
had  the  treatment :  its  dish-water  is  in  my  veins,  its 
dope  in  my  assimilative  system.  The  Witherspoony 
truths,  so  well  adapted  to  the  Second  Reader  Grade, 
must  remain  in  whatever  vermiform  appendix  the 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  THE  EMPORIUM     121 

volume  of  my  brain  provides  for  the  retention  of 
platitudinous  ponderosity.  I  shall  lose  my  sense  of 
humor.  I  shall  become  bourgeois,  un-Bohemianized, 
Philistine,  crass.  I  must  go  forth  and  rob  folks  like 
any  other  good  citizen.  Would  that  the  chance 
might  present  itself  ere  I  depart  for  home.  By 
George !  That  reminds  me — I  have  no  home !" 

This  was  delivered  in  exactly  the  tone  in  which 
one  might  announce  the  leaving  behind  of  a  hand 
kerchief  or  cigar-case.  Quite  at  a  loss  what  to  say, 
Carson  said  nothing;  Craighead,  meanwhile,  smil 
ing  as  if  at  a  new  and  amusing  thought.  Into  this 
silence  entered  Mr.  O'Grady,  Mr.  Evans  and  a 
slender  person  of  about  Carson's  size,  who  at  once 
began  the  coursing  of  imaginary  game  on  the  wall 
paper,  slapping  his  thigh  and  laughing  at  every, 
failure. 

"This,"  said  Mr.  O'Grady,  introducing  the  in 
door  huntsman,  "is  Mr.  Wylie,  Mr.  Carson." 

"My  worst  fears  confirmed!"  hissed  Craighead. 
"The  one  man  I  ever  loved  turns  out  to  be — oh,  ye 
gods !  both  a  teller  of  truth  and  a  victim  of  regular 
habits !  The  last  straw,  and  no  julep !" 

Carson  looked  at  Wylie,  awaiting  Mr.  O'Grady's 
development  of  his  case. 

"We  are,  of  cawse,"  said  O'Grady,  "sorry  to  Have 
interfered  with  your  plans,  Mr.  Carson,  but — " 

Mr.  O'Grady's  grave  discourse,  in  which  Carson 


122    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

could  feel  himself  being  placed  irrevocably  in  the 
wrong,  was  interrupted  by  Mr.  Wylie's  making  a 
swoop  upon  an  imaginary  animal  on  Mr.  O'Grady's 
nose. 

"I  'most  caught  him,"  he  cried.  "A  bumblebee! 
A  bumblebee !  Sunday,  gnats ;  mosquitoes,  Monday ; 
Tuesday,  flies;  bees  Wednesday;  hornets  yesterday 
and  bumblebees  to-day.  Big  game  soon!  Ha,  ha, 
ha,  ha!  Whoop!" 

Craighead  attentively  scrutinized  Mr.  Wylie, 
who  was  lurching  about  the  room  with  a  wild  sim 
ulation  of  mirth. 

"Long-lost  brother,  evidently,"  remarked  the 
Great  Uncalled.  "I  note  the  Craighead  strawberry- 
mark.  WTell,  when  he  gets  to  elephants,  I  may 
claim  relationship." 

"Of  cawse,"  went  on  Mr.  O'Grady,  paying  no 
attention  to  the  Wylie  incident,  except  to  use  and 
examine  for  blood-stains  a  neatly  folded  handker 
chief,  "your  being  found  in  the  greenhouse  has 
been  partially  explained,  sir;  and  we  are  not  dis 
posed  to  make  you  trouble.  The  usual  payment  for 
treatment  will  not  be  insisted  upon,  though  always 
collected  in  advance,  and  those  you  have  had  will 
be  a  total  loss.  In  fact,  with  our  customary  liber 
ality,  we  shall  leave  to  you  both  that  and  your  board 
and  lodgings  since  you  so  strangely  came  into  our — 
into  our  midst." 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  THE  EMPORIUM     123 

"Hear,  hear!"  ejaculated  Craighead.  "Hooroar 
for  the  emporium!  Hip,  and  again  hip!  Wither- 
spoon  for  ever!" 

"And  if  you  will  kindly  sign  these  mutual  re 
ceipts  in  full  for  all  claims  on  both  sides,  we  will 
give  Mr.  Wylie  his  room;  and — here's  the  pen,  Mr. 
Carson,  sir." 

Theodore  had  already  made  the  first  stroke  of  the 
"T"  when  Craighead  rushed  upon  him  like  a  whirl 
wind,  snatched  the  pen,  hurled  it  into  the  door  like 
a  javelin,  where  it  stood  quivering,  and  interposed 
between  Carson  and  O'Grady. 

"Caitiff,  avaunt!"  he  roared.  "Wilt  deprive  the 
widows  and  orphans  this  youth  may  accumulate  of 
their  cause  of  action  against  this  dope-shotten  em 
porium?  Back,  slave!  You  reach  him  only  over 
my  dead  body!  Receipts  in  full?  Not  on  your 
life — to  coin  an  expression.  You  have  shot  his 
patrician  blood  full  of  dish-water  and  bug-juice; 
you  have  filled  his  innocent  and  unworldly  stomach 
with  dope ;  you  have  committed  on  him  false  impris 
onment,  assault  and  battery,  and  malpractice,  if 
there  be  any  mat  to  your  practice.  His  spine  is 
even  as  wet  string  for  limberness.  He  is  disinte 
grated  so  that  he  falls  below  the  standard  of  the 
human  wreck — he  is  mere  debris  and  junk.  His 
reputation — the  immortal  part  of  himself — is  gone, 
and  what  remains  is  bestial.  He  has  had  jaghood 


124    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

forced  upon  him,  instead  of  being  allowed  to  achieve 
it  at  the  expense  of  his  patrimony,  as  you,  O'Dennis, 
and  I  have  done.  You  have  amputated  his  appe 
tite  for  light  wines,  and  may  as  well  pass  him  the 
Darker  Drink  first  as  last.  He  has  suffered,  and 
must  ever  suffer,  most  excruciating  pain  and  agony, 
and  both  mental  and  physical  anguish.  He's  a 
gone  gosling!  And  I,  the  greatest  personal  injury 
specialist  in  the  legal  world,  as  his  attorney  demand 
ten — thousand — plunks  as  damages;  failing  the  re 
ceipt  of  which,  well  and  truly  to  be  paid  in  lawful 
money  of  the  realm,  we'll  take  the  emporium  in 
execution,  make  Witherspoon  a  stable-boy  with  you 
as  assistant  swipe,  both  of  you  to  sleep  with  Tige ! 
We  don't  sign  nothin',  see?" 

He  turned  to  Carson,  drew  himself  up,  and,  with 
tragedy  in  every  lineament — an  astonishing  feat  in 
facial  expression — he  spoke  with  a  deep-toned  ex 
aggeration  of  Carson's  southern  accent, 

"Othello's  occupation's  done  come  back !" 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  RETURN  OF  OTHELLO'S  OCCUPATION 

FROM  the  hour  of  Carson's  arrival  at  the  Slat- 
tery    Institute,    Craighead    had    dominated 
him.     He    had   accepted   the   character   of 
Wylie,   at  Craighead's  suggestion;  and  when,  on 
Mr.  Wylie's  suddenly  turning  up,  Craighead  had 
demanded  damages  from  the  Institute  for  suffer 
ings  of  which  Carson  was  largely  ignorant,  he  had 
allowed  the  demand. 

Though  Craighead  was  clearly  no  proper  guide 
for  a  young  man  whose  affairs  were  in  so  critical  a 
condition,  he  had  confided  in  him.  Craighead  had 
grasped  the  new  and  unique  principle  of  Carson's 
aeronef  at  one  leap  of  his  oddly  energetic  and  active 
mind,  and  as  he  soared  into  the  skies  in  roseate 
plans  for  developing  a  monopoly  of  the  air  with  it, 
Theodore  believed,  and  allowed  himself  to  dream 
of  power  and  fame  and  the  girl  whose  face  haunted 
him,  pale  at  his  leap  into  the  depths  of  the  tossing 
cloud,  under  the  drooping  feather  draggled  with  the 
high  mist.  And  then  the  gadfly  of  his  uncompleted 

125 


126    VIRGINIA    OF   THE    AIR    LANES 

task  stung  him  again.  He  must  hie  to  the  shed  in  the 
Gulf  dunes,  complete  the  flying-machine,  and  bring 
it  to  the  notice  of  the  world,  in  spite  of  the  enmity  of 
Mr.  Shayne,  upon  which  he  now  confidently  counted. 
He  must — 

"I  know,"  broke  in  Mr.  Craighead,  gazing  at 
the  ceiling  through  wreaths  of  smoke,  "the  yearn 
ings  of  your  subtropical  Alabamian  system.  But 
be  practical.  Ordinarily,  you  might  yield  to  the 
seductions  of  the  South  in  spring,  suh.  I  know 
how  it  is.  The  pomegranate  goes  off  in  explosions 
of  vegetal  fire.  The  buckeye  hangs  out  its  crimson 
banners.  The  magnolia  buds  swell,  burst,  and  fill 
the  world  with  the  enchantment  of  fragrance  and 
velvet  purity.  The  cape  jasmine  upholds  its  load  of 
creamy  snow,  the  crape  myrtle  and  hibiscus  send 
out  their  call  to  the  orthochromatic  plate,  and  the 
doodle-bug  lies  in  wait  for  the  unwary  ant,  even 
as  I  have  lain  in  wait  for  you;  but  none  of  these 
is  really  germane  to  the  issues.  The  issues,  suh, 
are  these:  You  come  to  this  emporium,  of  which, 
alas,  neither  of  us  is  fated  to  be  an  alumnus,  and 
you  find  me  in  fine  fettle,  save  that  I  am  unrelated 
to  the  world.  I  am  an  Antaeus,  with  no  immediate 
prospects  of  getting  my  tootsies  to  mother  earth; 
a  storage  battery  as  big  as  Pike's  Peak,  but  insu 
lated  from  the  mass  of  demagnetized  humanity; 
a  great  force  for  a  number  of  things,  with  no  way 
of  proving  it.  What  do  you  do?  .You  make  a  pro- 


OTHELLO'S    OCCUPATION  127 

¥ 

fession  for  me.  I  was  naught,  not  to  mention 
naughty.  What  am  I  now?  A  great  personal- 
injury  lawyer,  developing  into  a  prosperous  ambu 
lance-chaser.  I  was  out  of  touch  with  the  world  of 
finance.  I  have  now  laid  the  foundation  for  the 
organization  of  the  great  Carson-Craighead  Aeronef 
Corporation !" 

"What  do  you  mean?"  ejaculated  Carson. 

"What  I  say!  What  I  say!  Through  a  long, 
colonnaded,  peristyled  vista  of  marble  and  onyx,  I 
can  see,  nailed  to  the  back  fence,  the  hide  of  Mr. 
Finley  Shayne.  And  just  as  I  am  closing  something, 
you  propose  to  leave  me.  It's  unthinkable !" 

Carson's  momentary  feeling  that  this  wild  deni 
zen  of  dreamland  really  had  something  definite  in 
view  in  the  way  of  business  departed,  and  he  re 
turned  to  the  argument. 

"But  I  have  no  clothes,"  he  urged. 

"Clothes,"  scornfully  repeated  Craighead.  "What 
are  they  ?  Merely  woven  fabrics  to  fill  bags  to  se 
cure  credit  withal  at  hotels.  And  you  need  no 
credit ;  for  this  room  is  mine  for  the  whole  term  of 
the  treatments  paid  for  by  some  one  into  whose 
company  I  dropped  or  rose  during  my  last  shore 
leave  from  the  good  ship  Lithia,  but  by  whom  I 
have  no  idea.  Clothes  indeed!  Scat!" 

"But  it's  cold  here,"  persisted  Carson,  feeling 
helpless  in  the  toils  of  this  serpentine  logic.  "I'm 
not  prepared  for  this  climate." 


128    VIRGINIA    OF    THE   AIR    LANES 

"Look  abroad!"  commanded  Craighead,  with  a 
gesture  toward  the  window.  "The  sun  beats  down 
upon  the  last  remnants  of  the  snow,  and  the  little 
brooks  give  the  glad  ha-ha  to  the  river,  and  send 
down  the  silky  billet-doux  of  the  catkin  to  remind 
him  that  they've  busted  loose  and  are  hurling  them 
selves  into  his  arms.  Why,  damn  you,  it's  spring! 
And  you  can  stay  right  here — steam  heat,  bath, 
hot  and  cold  water,  padded  cell  in  connection — oh, 
fair  youth,  I  love  thee!  Let  me  finish  bunkoing 
Mr.  O'Grady,  and  start  the  Aeronef  Company. 
Don't  be  a  clam !" 

"You  know  how  I  feel  about  those  damages — but 
if  I  could  get  the  capital  for  the  aeronef — " 

"Why,  you  don't  doubt  my  practical  genius,  do 
you?"  queried  Craighead  in  astonishment,  "in  other 
people's  affairs,  I  mean,  of  course?  Why,  sir,  if, 
in  view  of  my  failure  with  my  own,  I  can't  handle 
other  people's  business,  then  what  becomes  of  my 
ability?  I  tell  you,  haughty  Southron,  I'm  good 
for  something!" 

"Well,"  asked  Carson,  "but  what  real  prospects 
have  you,  now?" 

Craighead  peered  into  the  hall,  locked  the  door, 
threw  up  the  window,  scanned  the  wall  as  if  for 
eavesdroppers  secreted  between  the  bricks,  ap 
proached  Carson  on  tiptoe,  and  whispered, 

"I've  found  a  billionaire,"  he  hissed,  "and  got 


OTHELLO'S    OCCUPATION  129 

him  hypnotized.  We  see  him  to-night.  Prepare  to 
talk  aeronef  as  one  charming  the  bird  from  the  tree 
or  the  woodchuck  from  the  hole.  I've  done  the 
real  work;  see  that  you  make  good  in  the  insignifi 
cant  details!" 

Theodore's  emotions  were  so  obviously  under 
control  that  Craighead  called  him  a  mollusk  and 
refused  to  describe  his  billionaire. 

"I'll  go,"  said  Carson,  "it  can  do  no  harm.  Now, 
as  for  collecting  damages  from  the  Institute,  I 
protest — " 

"A  mere  ten  thousand,"  cried  Craighead.  "Say 
no  more.  Away  with  it !  It's  in  the  hands  of  your 
lawyer,  the  celebrated  Craighead.  You  never  mind ; 
but  nerve  yourself  up  to  control  the  subjective  mind 
of  the  billionaire." 

All  that  day  Carson  watched  Craighead  as  one 
might  study  a  recently  captured  inmate  of  the  zoo. 
From  a  trunk  covered  with  the  labels  of  foreign 
travel,  Craighead  took  a  sheet  of  cardboard  and 
painted  upon  it  an  elaborate  sign  which  bore  the 
legend : 

CRAIGHEAD 

ATTORNEY  AND  COUNSELOR  AT  LAW 

This  he  fastened  outside  the  door,  chuckling  from 
time  to  time  as  the  passers-by  paused  as  if  to  read 


130    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

it.  After  a  while  he  added  to  it,  "Personal  Injury 
Cases  a  Specialty,"  and  found  a  recess  down  the 
hall  from  which  he  could  watch  the  employees  pass 
the  sign,  sheering  off  as  if  from  a  man-trap.  The 
height  of  Craighead's  pleasure  came  when  O'Grady 
himself  finally  paused,  read  the  sign  over  and  over 
as  if  to  make  sure  that  this  unspeakable  effrontery 
were  not  really  a  hallucination,  and  departed  sud 
denly  in  a  sort  of  dignified  panic.  Then  Craighead 
went  snooping  about  foraging  for  hotel  stationery, 
on  which  he  sketched  an  additional  design  adver 
tising  the  new  legal  business  in  Room  37. 

"We  must  be  economical,"  said  he.  "If  we  can 
expropriate  stationery  enough  for  a  month,  it  will 
pay  to  get  a  rubber  stamp  made." 

Craighead  went  out  late  and  brought  back  sev 
eral  legal-looking  books,  which  he  ranged  upon 
the  dresser  in  dusty  formidability — an  old  set  of 
Illinois  Statutes,  and  a  tattered  Broom's  Legal  Max 
ims,  from  which  he  read  unctuously  such  Latin 
aphorisms  as  "De  minimis  non  curat  lex,"  "Falsus  in 
uno,  Jalsus  in  omnibus,"  and  the  like,  and  lectured 
upon  them  very  informatively.  The  remainder  of 
the  library  consisted  of  a  ten-years'  file  of  Martin- 
dale's  Legal  Directory,  containing  nothing  more 
authoritative  than  lists  of  the  world's  lawyers.  In 
each  of  them  Craighead  interlined  in  ink,  on  the 


OTHELLO'S    OCCUPATION  131 

proper  page,  his  own  name,  with  the  highest  pro 
fessional  rating,  and  financial  standing. 

"This,  my  dear  colonel,"  said  he,  "may  seem  to 
you  like  trifling;  but  in  the  life  of  business  and  the 
business  of  life,  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  trifle. 
Take  care  of  the  trifles,  and  the  truffles  will  take  care 
of  themselves — and  the  terrapin  and  lobster  also. 
This  library  I  consider  my  master-stroke.  When 
O'Grady's  spies  see  it,  I  reckon,  suh,  it'll  throw  a 
crimp  into  'em." 

"Where  did  you  get  them?"  asked  Theodore. 

"Second-hand  man,"  replied  Craighead.  "On 
approval.  We  must  keep  up  appearances  even  if 
we  have  to  buy  'em." 

They  went  out  for  a  walk  to  give  O'Grady  a 
chance,  as  Craighead  expressed  it,  to  see  what  he 
was  up  against,  a  statement  that  mystified  Theodore 
greatly. 

On  their  return,  Mr.  O'Grady  seemed  to  have 
been  wrought  upon  by  what  he  was  "up  against;" 
for  he  asked  Mr.  Craighead  if  he  would  be  so  good 
as  to  give  him  a  few  minutes.  Mr.  Craighead 
looked  at  his  watch,  pleaded  lack  of  time,  and 
asked  Theodore  if  their  business  could  wait.  When 
Carson  admitted  that  it  could,  O'Grady  said  "Thank 
you,  sir,"  in  the  tone  of  a  porter  accepting  a  tip. 

What    under   heaven    had   suddenly    raised   the 


132    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

expelled  Craighead  from  his  despised  position  in  the 
Institute  to  a  thing  to  inspire  terror  and  panic, 
Theodore  could  not  imagine,  nor  guess  the  reason 
for  Craighead's  sardonic  laughter,  as  he  sat  in  their 
room,  drawing  indictments  against  O'Grady  and 
Witherspoon.  He  saw,  however,  that  these  were 
awesome  documents,  which  set  forth  in  a  large, 
round  hand  that  these  gentlemen  had  been  guilty 
of  obtaining  money  under  false  pretenses,  false  im 
prisonment,  malicious  assault,  and  the  like,  all  done 
"feloniously,  of  malice  prepense  and  aforethought, 
not  having  the  fear  of  God  before  their  eyes,  but 
instigated  thereunto  by  the  devil,"  and  "against  the 
peace  and  dignity  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  and  con 
trary  to  the  statutes  in  such  cases  made  and  pro 
vided."  They  were  carefully  docketed,  in  a  style  so 
intensely  legal  that  Theodore  himself  was  impressed 
with  the  terrible  nature  of  his  case  against  the  Insti 
tute.  The  personal  injury  specialist  then  read  the 
accusations  in  round  tones  that  rolled  thunderously 
out  into  the  halls  through  the  transoms,  and  ar 
ranged  them  in  careful  disorder  on  the  table,  with 
their  docketings  plainly  visible. 

"Wilt  inject  thy  bourgeois  and  moral-reform  dope 
into  the  great  Craighead?"  asked  he  of  the  atmos 
phere.  "Then  take  the  retribution  genius  serves 
out!  Theodore,  when  we  return,  this  room  will  be 
full  of  corpses  knocked  stiff  by  these  impeachments 


OTHELLO'S    OCCUPATION  133 

of  O'Grady  and  Witherspoon.  One  mercenary  will 
see  them,  and  drop  dead.  Another  will  look  for  the 
first,  see  my  lethal  handiwork,  and  collapse.  And 
so  on,  and  on,  and  on !  If  there's  room  for  enough 
to  die  in  the  imminent  deadly  breach  of  the  crim 
inal  code,  we'll  get  Witherspoon;  but  I  guess  the 
room'll  be  full  ere  the  deadly  carbon  dioxid  of 
my  brain  can  reach  him.  This  is  the  master-stroke 
— and,  under  the  authorities,  we  shall  be  guiltless. 
Fie  upon  their  law !  Come,  now,  fair  youth ! 
Here  we  leave  our  deadly  gin — meaning  no  deriva 
tive  of  the  juniper — and  take  the  spoor  of  the  bil 
lionaire.  Hike,  oh,  hike  with  me!" 

Explaining  that  they  would  be  trailed  by  the  hell 
hounds,  Craighead  effected  the  stratagem  of  "fetch 
ing  a  compass  round  about  the  tower  of  the  inter 
locking  switch"  down  the  railway  track.  They 
crossed  a  dim  field,  followed  a  farm  road,  and  came 
back  into  the  village  from  the  opposite  side.  Craig- 
head  peered  up  and  down  the  street,  hastily  opened 
a  gate  before  which  they  had  been  slinking,  and 
hurried  Carson  to  a  broad  porch,  under  tall  elms 
and  maples,  knobby  with  swelling  buds.  He  pushed 
a  button  and  they  waited. 

Carson  inspected  its  exterior,  and  pronounced  the 
establishment  distinctly  odd.  The  house  was  a 
columned,  old-fashioned  edifice,  which  in  an  un 
pretentious  colonial  way  was  fine  and  impressive. 


134    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

The  grounds  must  have  covered  two  acres.  The 
trees  were  strong,  wholesome  specimens,  so  high 
and  bosky  as  to  make  the  place  shadowy  like  a 
wood.  The  grass  had  been  left  undipped  the  pre 
ceding  year,  and  was  uneven  like  a  pasture.  A  cow 
peered  at  them  around  the  veranda.  Near  the  fence 
stood  a  farm  wagon,  equipped  with  sideboards  for 
the  hauling  of  corn.  Harrows  and  other  farm  tools 
lay  about  as  if  got  out  in  anticipation  of  the  work 
of  spring;  and  all  these  in  the  grounds  of  a  well- 
kept  house,  thoroughly  in  repair.  Even  the  es 
cutcheon  of  the  push-button,  on  which  Craighead 
pressed  again,  was  polished  until  it  shone. 

At  slow  steps  in  the  hall  Craighead  squeezed  Car 
son's  arm  spasmodically.  The  door  opened  and  a 
low  figure  stood  before  them  in  which  Theodore 
noted  something  familiar,  and  a  voice  not  altogether 
strange,  he  thought,  invited  them  into  the  "other 
room." 

"Mr.  Carson,"  said  Mr.  Craighead,  "does  not 
recognize  in  our  host  the  erstwhile  guide  of  my 
wandering  and  wabbly  feet.  Mr.  Carson,  in  your 
new  and  fully  established  capacity  as  a  respectable 
citizen,  let  me  present  you  to  Mr.  Waddy,  to  whose 
counsel,  precept  and  example,  while  acting  as  my 
attendant,  I  feel  myself  indebted  for  my  complete 
restoration  to  Philistine-hood.  Mr.  Carson,  Mr. 
Waddy!" 


OTHELLO'S    OCCUPATION  135 

Mr.  Waddy,  ignoring  this  reintroduction,  led 
them  silently  down  the  hall,  past  a  door,  which  gave 
forth  scuffling  sounds,  female  voices,  and  the  peep 
ing  of  young  chickens,  and  took  them  into  a  snug 
den,  the  shelves  of  which  were  covered  with  books, 
tall,  imposing,  learned-looking  tomes  in  time-dark 
ened  bindings;  where  they  sat  down  in  leather- 
covered  chairs  gray  with  dust.  Mr.  Waddy  opened 
the  swinging  door  of  a  small  cast-iron  stove,  the 
pipe  of  which  ran  into  the  chimney  above  a  fine 
old  mantel,  and  threw  in  a  double  handful  of  corn 
cobs  from  a  box  in  the  corner.  The  fire  roared 
up,  and,  by  its  flickering  light,  Theodore  saw  that 
the  curious-looking  machine  which  flanked  a  fine 
bust  of  Shakespeare,  was  a  cream-separator;  and 
that  what  he  had  taken  for  a  frieze  in  alto-relievo 
was  a  string  of  seed-corn,  composed  of  pairs  of  ears 
tied  together  by  their  husks,  and  hung  over  a  wire. 
In  its  deeper  personal  implications  it  was  the  most 
baffling  room  Theodore  had  ever  seen. 

"You  see  here,"  said  Craighead,  "an  illustration 
of  the  manner  in  which  the  souls  of  things  express 
those  of  people.  Here  we  find  the  reflective  mingled 
with  the  defective,  serials  with  cereals,  literature 
with  litter,  the  diary  with  the  dairy,  expressing  our 
good  friend  Mr.  Waddy,  who  combines  the  types  of 
the  more  or  less  honest  prince  of  haute  finance  and 
the  horny-handed  son  of  toil.  The  owner  of  eight 


136    VIRGINIA    OF   THE    AIR    LANES 

banks  sits  here  in  the  shade  of  his  own  cream-sepa 
rator  and  seed-corn,  surrounded  by  art,  Aldines 
and  Elzevirs,  all  coated  with  the  desiccated  soil  from 
which  we  are  made,  to  which  we  return,  and  out  of 
which,  under  moister  conditions,  all  wealth  is  de 
rived.  I  am  touched." 

"I  ain't,"  said  Mr.  Waddy.     "Not  yit!" 

A  pause  succeeded  this  Delphic  remark.  Either 
Mr.  Craighead  was  doubtful  as  to  Mr.  Waddy's  ex 
act  meaning,  or  he  sought  the  psychological  effect 
of  silence. 

"So  you  did  reely  drop  into  the  garden?"  their 
host  finally  asked. 

"Yes,"  answered  Carson.  "I  think  it  was  foolish 
to  take  the  risk — but  I  did." 

"Why?"  queried  Waddy;  and  Carson  explained. 

"Boy  foolishness,"  said  Mr.  Waddy;  and  silence 
fell  again,  broken  at  last  by  Theodore's  inquiry  as 
to  whether  Mr.  Waddy  was  active  in  eight  banks, 
and  if  he  did  not  find  his  duties  irksome. 

"No,"  replied  Waddy,  still  Delphic.  "The  things 
growed  up  on  me.  I  never  wanted  to  be  a  banker; 
but  my  rents  kep'  loadin'  me  up  with  deposits,  an' 
I  sort  of  got  one  bank  after  another — darn  it! 
Country  banks — the  boys  run  'em.  I  came  here 
to  have  a  quiet  time  in  my  own  way — an'  see  how  I 
make  out!" 


OTHELLO'S    OCCUPATION  137 

This  conclusion  was  so  full  of  rancor  that  Theo 
dore  felt  hurt,  and  was  about  to  say  that  if  Mr. 
Waddy's  privacy  was  so  precious  he  would  no 
longer  intrude;  when  their  host,  at  the  sound  of 
the  dragging  of  some  heavy  body  in  the  hall,  ceased 
pulling  his  beard  and  eyebrows  to  the  vanishing 
point  in  his  facial  perspective  toward  which  they 
all  seemed  directed,  stealthily  peeped  out  and  re 
turned  smiting  his  palm  with  his  fist  in  unmistaka 
ble  agitation. 

"Takin*  out  the  incubator!"  he  cried.  "The 
hatch'll  be  ruined!  Ruined!" 

"Pardon  me,"  said  Mr.  Craighead,  "if  I  mention 
the  fact  that  some  change — or  cataclysm — seems 
taking  place  here." 

"I'd  got  shut  of  'em  all,"  wailed  Mr.  Waddy. 
"They  wanted  me  to  put  on  style !  They  reckoned 
I  was  going  to  when  I  bought  this  place.  I  could 
slick  up  an'  go  to  stock-holders'  meetin's — an'  the 
boys  never  knowed !  An'  jest  as  I  got  things  right, 
Caroline's  man  dies  an'  here  she  comes  to  'take 
care'  of  me !  I  shan't  be  allowed  to  earn  a  cent  by 
workin'  for  Witherspoon — and  it  brought  me  into 
such  society!  Them  jags  is  mighty  nice  fellers, 
some  of  'em." 

"I  thank  you,"  said  Craighead,  with  an  excess  of 
manner.  "And  as  for  your  being  condemned  by 


138    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

family  pride  to  sterile  uselessness,  it  is  truly  a  shame. 
But,  is  Caroline  a  relative?" 

"Unly  daughter,"  answered  Mr.  Waddy.  "Come 
to  live  with  me.  Settin'  things  to  rights !" 

"Mr.  Waddy,"  said  Craighead,  "bear  up  under 
this.  It  may  be  for  the  best.  And  let  us  take  up 
Mr.  Carson's  great  project  for  monopolizing  avia 
tion.  I  have  long  believed  that  some  one  would 
turn  up  with  the  machine  to  subordinate  all  others ; 
but  since  the  time  of  Santos-Dumont,  Farman  and 
the  Wrights,  aerial  navigation  has  made  no  real 
progress.  Mr.  Carson  is  the  genius.  We  offer 
you  the  unique  chance  to  be  with  us  co-master  of  the 
world.  Mr.  Carson  will  be  glad  to  explain  his 
aeronef." 

"I  wun't  put  a  cent  in  it !"  said  Mr.  Waddy. 

Carson's  heart  sank;  the  unexpected  affluence  of 
Mr.  Waddy  had  bred  faith  in  Craighead's  financial 
plans. 

"Certainly  not,"  replied  Craighead,  as  if  Mr. 
Waddy 's  refusal  were  the  most  natural  thing  in  the 
world,  "until  you  have  ciphered  the  thing  down  to 
brass  nails.  And  then — but  tell  Mr.  Waddy  about 
it,  Mr.  Carson.  You  need  not  enter  into  the  offers 
of  millions  we  have  had,  and  spurned — just  describe 
the  machine." 

Carson  switched  on  the  lights,  and  they  gathered 
about  the  table.  The  boy  talked  slowly  at  first — 


OTHELLO'S    OCCUPATION  139 

but  as  the  theme  grew  the  others  had  the  rare  ex 
perience  of  hearing  a  man  discourse  upon  the  thing 
which  dominated  an  intense  and  repressed  life.  It 
was  complex — much  of  it  too  technical  for  Mr. 
Waddy  —  though  familiarity  with  the  concrete 
things  of  his  practical  career  had  made  him  acute. 
Once  in  a  while  he  interjected  a  question  which 
evinced  intelligent  comprehension  of  the  heart  of 
Carson's  explanation.  The  boy  explained  that  his 
aeronef  differed  from  all  others,  in  having  wings 
like  a  bird's;  which  did  not  flap,  like  those  of  the 
absurd  orthopters,  and  yet  used  half  their  surface  in 
beating  the  air,  with  a  straight  thrust  like  that  of  an 
oar  in  water. 

"Don't  yeh  use  screws?"  asked  Waddy  at  this 
point. 

"Not  at  all,"  answered  Carson.  "The  screw  can 
never  be  effective,  because  it  strikes  with  a  slant. 
It  will  do  in  water,  but  air  requires  a  more  effective 
thrust.  When  your  propeller-blade  moves  at  a 
hundred  miles  an  hour,  say,  you  have  a  lift  of  thirty 
pounds  to  the  square  foot  of  surface — with  the 
direct  stroke.  But  the  surface  of  the  screw — " 

"Now,  how  d'ye  figger  that?"  asked  Mr.  Waddy. 

Carson  repeated  laboriously;  showed  how,  in  his 
new  wing,  the  whole  surface  revolved  in  sections 
striking  straight  against  the  air.  Waddy  nodded. 

"Why,"  said  Carson,  "I  can  lift  weights  that  none 


140    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

of  the  other  air-ships  can  stir,  and  fly  off  like  an 
eagle  with  a  fish!" 

Mr.  Waddy  nodded  his  head  now,  instead  of 
shaking  it.  Theodore's  enthusiasm  was  infecting 
him.  Craighead,  out  of  the  running,  stood  over 
them,  peering  silently  at  the  drawings  formed  by 
the  boy's  pencil.  Mr.  Waddy  was  getting  a  grip 
upon  the  principles.  The  wing-blades  were  really 
long  feathering-wheels,  the  slant  of  which,  by  a  new 
application  of  old  principles,  was  under  perfect  con 
trol,  so  as  to  lift  directly  upward,  to  drive  obliquely 
in  any  direction,  or  to  strike  up  and  hurl  the  aeronef 
suicidally  downward.  The  farmer-banker  and  the 
inventor  were  so  absorbed  that  they  scarcely  noticed 
the  entrance  of  a  messenger  from  the  Institute  with 
a  message  from  Mr.  O'Grady,  asking  if  Mr.  Craig- 
head  would  step  outside  for  a  moment,  nor  Craig- 
head's  withdrawal  and  return. 

"The  direction  of  the  blow  of  the  propeller,"  said 
Carson,  "is  under  perfect  control.  A  bird's  wing 
isn't.  This  is  a  better  wing  than  an  eagle's." 

"Kin  you  raise  right  straight  up,"  asked  Waddy, 
"without  running  along  like  a  buzzard?" 

"I  sure  can,"  replied  Carson,  falling  into  dialect. 
"No  bird  can  do  that — no  big  bird.  It's  a  better, 
stronger  flier  than  any  bird.  The  best  any  other 
machine  can  do  is  to  support  four  pounds  to  the 
square  foot  of  surface;  with  my  new  motors,  I  can 


OTHELLO'S    OCCUPATION  141 

fly  off  with  five  times  that;  and  I've  got  four  times 
their  bearing  surface !  I  can  carry  mail  and  express 
at  a  profit,  or  passengers  that  can  afford  it.  I  can 
hover  over  a  ship  with  good  heavy  torpedoes  and 
sink  her,  and  overtake  any  vessel  that  floats.  I 
can—-" 

"What  kind  of  motors  you  got?"  interrupted 
Waddy. 

Carson  went  into  details  of  cylinders,  weight  per 
H.  P.,  revolutions  per  minute,  fuel  necessities,  and 
the  like,  in  the  midst  of  which  Craighead  returned, 
secured  Carson's  signature  to  some  document,  of  the 
nature  of  which  the  boy  was  quite  ignorant,  went  out 
and  reentered  whistling.  The  old  man  looked 
through  his  eyebrows,  whiskers  and  mustaches  at 
Carson  and  the  drawings. 

"What  if  your  engines  stop?"  he  asked.  "When 
you're  a  mile  high  and  over  water,  mebbe?" 

"I  can  soar,"  answered  Carson.  "I  can  make  head 
way  and  gain  height  with  no  power,  if  there's  a 
wind — and  I  can  stay  up  for  hours,  with  the  pro 
pellers  set  for  aeroplanes.  But  the  best  thing  I 
haven't  mentioned  —  the  gyroscopic  balancing 
device." 

"What's  that?"  asked  Mr.  Waddy. 

"Why,  it's  the  successful  application  of  the  gyro 
scope  to  aviation." 

"They  used  to  talk  about  that,"  observed  Mr. 


142    VIRGINIA    OF   THE    AIR    LANES 

Waddy,  "long  ago — the  Brennan  single-rail  roads 
— I  thought  it  turned  out  that  the  gyroscopes  was 
too  heavy  f'r  air  work." 

"They  are  too  heavy,"  cried  Theodore,  "if  you 
use  them  to  do  the  balancing — that's  sure.  And 
so  we  have  had  to  balance  by  feeling,  just  as  we  do 
a  bicycle.  Thought  isn't  quick  enough,  so  you  have 
to  rely  on  feeling,  as  a  bird  does.  But  I  use  little 
gyroscopes,  not  to  control  by  their  weight  and  stress, 
but  to  distribute  power  to  the  wings  and  rudders, 
positive,  automatic  distribution  of  power.  Why,  if 
the  engineer  of  my  machine  should  fall  dead,  it 
would  fly  on  just  as  he  set  it,  until  the  fuel  was  ex 
hausted.  It  feels  and  thinks." 

The  three  men  sat  looking  at  one  another,  so  far 
oblivious  of  their  surroundings  that  they  did  not 
notice  the  opening  of  the  door,  nor  see  the  woman 
who  entered. 

"Papa !"  she  said. 

Mr.  Waddy  rose  hastily  and  faced  her.  She 
was  rather  young,  rosy,  and  quite  too  jolly- 
looking  for  her  half-mourning,  which  she  filled  to 
a  smoothness  that  showed  marvelous  adaptation  of 
fabrics  to  curves.  She  looked  like  Mr.  Waddy  but 
was  undeniably  pretty.  He  was  blocky  and  short; 
she,  round  and  plump,  with  small  hands  and  feet. 
His  eyes,  lost  in  huge  brows,  seemed  small  and 
deep-set;  hers  were  wide,  with  a  glimmer  of  good 


OTHELLO'S    OCCUPATION  143 

fun  in  them.  His  face  was  a  hirsute  jungle,  grow 
ing  all  ways  a  well-kept  beard  should  not;  her 
cheeks  were  smooth  and  pink,  her  lips  were  red,  and 
the  Waddy  anarchy  of  hair  gave  her  coiffure  a 
charming  tousled  and  crinkly  disorder  which  would 
have  convicted  a  small  girl  of  naughtiness.  The 
turned-up  pug  nose  of  Mr.  Waddy  was  modified  to 
a  delightful  little  retrousse  effect  in  her.  An  ap 
parent  effort  on  her  part  to  be  stern  and  formal 
was  mitigated  by  smears  of  dust  on  face  and  hands, 
and  a  slight  trace  of  panting  and  heat,  as  if  she  had 
been  exerting  herself. 

"Papa,"  said  she,  "this  is  hardly  a  place  in  which 
to  entertain  these  gentlemen.  We  have  cleared  out 
the  east  parlor." 

"Oh,  yes!"  assented  Mr.  Waddy,  with  feverish 
haste.  "To  be  sure,  Caroline!  Take  'em  in,  won't 
you?  I've  got  to  see  the  hired  man!  My  daugh 
ter,  Mrs.  Graybill,  Mr.  Craighead;  Caroline,  a — 
a  friend  of  mine,  Mr.  Carson,  of  Alabama.  Excuse 
me  for  a  minute,  gentlemen!" 

"I  assure  you,  Mrs.  Graybill,"  said  Mr.  Craig- 
head,  "that  when  I  say  we  are  delighted,  we  mean 
the  word  in  its  descriptive  sense,  rather  than  its 
conventional  nonsense." 

"Oh,  thank  you !"  replied  Mrs.  Graybill,  looking 
about  the  den.  "This  is  an  unfavorable-looking 
place  for  conventionalities." 


144    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

"Finding  you  here,"  went  on  Mr.  Craighead,  as 
they  entered  the  parlor,  "is  discovering  an  unex 
pected  rose  in  a  patch  devoted  to  the  harmless  and 
unornamental  cauliflower,  a  delight  all  the  more 
dangerous  to  a  sensitive  organism  because  of  its 
suddenness." 

"Oh,  I  dare  say  you'll  recover — a  great  many 
people  have.  And  we'll  strengthen  that  sensitive 
organism  with  supper." 

"And  thus  increase  the  pleasurable  strain !  The 
odore,  it  looks  deliciously  dangerous !" 

"And  I  may  as  well  explain  about  the  condition 
of  this  house,"  she  went  on.  "Papa  is  reverting  to 
type,  that's  all." 

"Ah,  yes!"  replied  Craighead.   "I  see!" 

"No,  you  don't,"  protested  Mrs.  Graybill,  "though 
it's  polite  to  say  so.  When  I  say  reverting  to  type, 
I  don't  mean  printing,  or  anything  like  that.  He's 
going  back  to  the  ways  of  his  youth,  and  the  youths 
of  his  progenitors.  I  dare  say  we  shall  all  tend  to 
do  the  same  at  his  age,  don't  you  think  so,  Mr. 
Carson?" 

Theodore  bashfully  answered  that  he  had  never 
thought  of  it.  Craighead  quoted  the  melancholy 
Jacques  on  second  childhood  but  denied  the  appli 
cation  to  Mr.  Waddy. 

"Oh,    I   don't  mean   that"  said   Mrs.    Graybill. 


OTHELLO'S    OCCUPATION  145 

"But  papa  got  rich,  and  we  imposed  on  him  gradu 
ally  a  life  unlike  that  in  which  he  was  nurtured. 
Now,  he  elopes  when  he  can,  and  sets  up  establish 
ments  with  seed-corn,  and  cream-separators,  and 
cows  and  harrows  on  the  lawn,  and  works  at  any  job 
he  can  find,  and  enjoys  drawing  wages  more  than 
anything,  except  teaching  calves  to  drink.  It's 
cruel  of  me  to  come  and  break  up  the  idyl ;  but  it's 
so  absurd!" 

"If  that  be  cruelty,"  said  Craighead,  "then — to 
coin  an  expression,  martyrdom  for  mine !" 

"Supper,"  said  she,  smiling,  "will  be  served  very 
soon." 

The  long  dining-room  was  gloomy  with  decayed 
gentility — black  beams,  dark  wainscoting,  and  a 
broad  plate-rail  bearing  wrenches,  clevises,  oil-cans, 
and  baskets  of  eggs  labeled  as  to  breeds  and  dates. 
During  the  meal  Craighead  came  out  amazingly  in 
his  encounters  with  Mrs.  Graybill,  to  whom,  as 
it  seemed  to  Theodore,  he  was  making  violent  love. 
Mr.  Waddy,  deaf  to  the  badinage  which  screened 
this  courtship,  sat  buried  in  thought,  save  when  he 
questioned  Carson  concerning  the  aeronef,  and  was 
answered  in  occasional  outbursts  of  eloquence  dur 
ing  which  Mrs.  Graybill  ignored  Craighead  and 
watched  Theodore  absorbedly. 

"There's  no  cinch  in  it,"  said  Mr.  Waddy,  "no 


146    VIRGINIA    OF.   THE    AIR    LANES 

monopoly;  an'  as  soon  as  it's  public,  everybody'll 
build  'em.  I  do  business  on  cinches." 

"Oh,  but  the  patents,  Mr.  Waddy !"  cried  Craig- 
head.  "You  forget  the  patents!" 

"They  expire  in  a  few  years,"  said  Mr.  Waddy, 
"an'  then  where  are  yeh?  Land,  now — that  I  made 
my  money  in — land's  an  eternal  cinch." 

"Mr.  Waddy,"  said  Craighead,  "this  matter  of 
securing  exclusive  control  of  the  air  is  a  part  of 
our  plans.  It  is  one  of  my  specialties.  The  law 
affords  ample  justification  for  the  assurance,  which 
I  here  and  now  give  you,  that  that  will  be  attended 
to.  Our  present  task  lies  with  the  uncompleted 
aeronef  down  by  the  shore  of  the  blue  Gulf;  to  get 
the  motors  into  her,  and  start  business." 

Carson  was  amazed,  for  he  would  have  wagered 
that  Craighead  had  never  before  thought  of  any 
monopoly  except  the  patents;  yet  here  he  was,  as 
suring  Mr.  Waddy  of  exclusive  aerial  dominion. 
Mr.  Waddy  grunted  as  if  lightly  impressed;  as, 
no  doubt,  he  was. 

"How  long  will  it  take  you,"  said  he,  "to  kind 
of  draw  out  your  plan  for  clenchin'  the  control  of 
the  air,  legally?" 

"Oh,  a  very  brief  time,"  said  Craighead.  "I 
have  installed  a  fine  law  library  in  my  apartments, 
so  the  consultation  of  authorities  will  be  easy; 
but—" 


OTHELLO'S    OCCUPATION  147 

"Well,"  interrupted  Mr.  Waddy,  "if  you  can  have 
that  done  by  the  time  Mr.  Carson  can  go  where  his 
machine  is,  put  it  in  shape  an'  fly  back,  it'll  do. 
When  he  lights  in  the  front  yard,  an'  you  bring  me 
a  good  law-proof  monopoly,  I'll  go  in  with  yeh; 
but  he's  got  to  fetch  a  letter  from  Mobile,  within 
twenty-four  hours  o'  the  time  it's  stamped  there. 
I'm  from  Missouri!  What  say?" 

"Done!"  cried  Craighead.  "You've  bought 
something!" 

Theodore  was  trembling  with  the  fear  that  they 
were  throwing  away  their  chance  by  reckless  and 
impossible  undertakings.  Mrs.  Graybill  saw  him 
grow  pale  and  swallow  hard,  as  if  choking,  and 
her  eyes  grew  soft. 

"Before  we  call  it  a  bargain,"  said  Theodore, 
"I  should  like  a  word  with  Mr.  Craighead,  if  you 
will  excuse  us." 

"Certainly,"  said  she.  "I  should  recommend 
careful  consultation." 

Craighead  faced  Carson  inquiringly,  as  they 
found  themselves  alone  in  the  hall. 

"Something  rising  in  your  throat?"  he  queried. 
"Frost  forming  on  your  boots?  No  yellow  stripe 
up  your  back,  is  there  ?  Come,  let's  reel  in  and  give 
him  the  gaff!" 

"I  wish  to  explain,"  said  Theodore,  "that  I — I 
can't  pay  the  charges  on  the  motors;  I  can't  get 


148    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

them  down  to  the  beach.  So  how  can  we  accept 
Mr.  Waddy's  offer?" 

"Gad,  cunnel,"  exclaimed  Craighead,  "I'm  glad 
you  told  me  in  private,  instead  of  disclosing  our  im- 
pecuniousness  to  His  Waddiness.  But,  have  no  fear ! 
You  carry  Caesar  and  his  fortunes.  I  have  the  fund 
for  the  motors." 

Craighead  drew  from  his  pocket  a  roll  of  bills, 
the  outer  one  of  rather  startling  magnitude. 

"Fees,"  said  Craighead.  "Damages,  actual  and 
exemplary.  I've  settled  the  case  of  Carson  vs.  The 
Slattery  Institute.  Fair  sir,  we  have  a  swollen  for 
tune." 

"What  do  you  mean?"  asked  Carson. 

"I  mean,"  said  Craighead,  "that  this  roll  of 
tainted  money  is  our  loot  of  the  emporium.  Wit 
well,  that  I  soaked  'em  plenty." 

"But  I  can't  allow  this !"  cried  Theodore. 

"It's  already  allowed,"  answered  Craighead,  with 
an  air  of  perfect  innocence.  "Come,  callow  sir, 
we  can't  begin  now  the  ruinous  policy  of  scrutiniz 
ing  the  sources  of  our  supplies.  We  can  endow  a 
college  later,  and  that —  What  you  doing?" 

Carson  was  cramming  the  bills  into  his  pocket. 

"Going  back  to  Mr.  Waddy,"  said  he.  "Come 
on." 

"Ay,  ay,  sir,"  said  Craighead,  his  hand  to  his 
forelock.  "But  I  warns  you,  Capting,  that  there's 


OTHELLO'S    OCCUPATION  149 

brokers  dead  ahead  and  on  both  bows,  and  that 
Craighead's  the  only  pilot  as  knows  these  waters. 
But  here's  with  you,  if  it's  to  Davy  Jones !" 

"Mr.  Waddy,"  said  Theodore,  walking  up  to  him 
and  looking  him  in  the  face,  "before  accepting  your 
offer,  I  must  make  sure  that  I  can  fulfil  my  part  of 
it.  I  must  install  the  motors  in  the  aeronef.  There 
are  some  financial  arrangements  to  be  made.  It 
may  be  some  weeks — " 

"I'll  let  yeh  have  what  money  you  need,"  said 
Mr.  Waddy.  "I  know  how  it  gen'ly  is  with  these 
here  geniuses." 

Theodore  grasped  the  old  man's  hands,  his  face 
flushed  with  joy. 

"I  accept  your  advances  with  pleasure,"  said  he. 
"And  within  sixty  days,  I  shall  be  here  with  the 
aeronef!" 

"As  certain,"  said  Craighead,  "as  the  world  turns 
over  sixty  times  on  its  shafting.  Got  your  order, 
Mr.  Waddy!" 

As  they  took  their  departure,  Mrs.  Graybill  drew 
them  aside  as  for  a  private  conference. 

"Mr.  Carson,"  said  she,  "do  you  know  that  papa 
is  a  dreadfully  good  business  man?" 

"I  am  quite  sure  of  it,"  said  Theodore. 

"Do  you  think  that  you  and  Mr.  Craighead  are 
quite  able  to  cope  with  him  where  business  is  busi 
ness?" 


150   VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

"Fear  not,"  said  Craighead.  "Colonel  Carson  has 
an  adviser  in  me." 

Mrs.  Graybill  laughed  merrily. 

"I  had  that  in  mind,"  said  she.  "I  believe  in  you, 
Mr.  Carson.  I  believe  in  your  machine.  And  I 
believe  fully  in  papa  and  his  business  ability." 

"Mrs.  Graybill,"  said  Theodore,  "we  can  do  no 
better  in  these  days  of  big  business,  than  to  trust 
to  a  man  who  has  the  honor  to  be  your  father." 

"That  was  a  great  hit  you  made  with  the  fair 
princess,"  said  Craighead,  as  they  went  to  their 
room.  "You're  a  wonder,  Sir  Theodore.  I  didn't 
think  you  had  it  in  you.  Hanged  if  you  haven't 
got  me  half  hypnotized  into  the  belief  that  you 
have  some  sort  of  rickety  flying-machine  down 
there!  Why,  we'll  make  a  killing  here  that  will 
put  the  beef  trust  in  second  place.  And  something 
tells  me  that  Mrs.  Graybill  will  be  in  it.  My  heart 
is  my  weak  point.  She's  touched  it.  Ah,  the 
ladies,  the  ladies !  They're  a  specialty  of  mine !" 

"I  should  say,"  said  Theodore,  "that  you  had 
better  make  a  specialty  of  your  plan  for  a  monop 
oly  of  aerial  navigation.  I  had  no  idea  that  you 
knew  any  such  secret." 

"No  more  had  I,  son,"  said  Craighead.  "But 
think  how  mean  and  picayunish  it  would  have  been 


OTHELLO'S    OCCUPATION  151 

to  refuse  a  promise  at  the  psychological  moment. 
Faugh!" 

"But  you  told  Mr.  Waddy— " 

"That  it  is  a  specialty  of  mine,"  supplied  Craig- 
head.  "Certainly,  I  wanted  to  keep  the  psychic 
fluid  flowing.  While  you  are  on  your  way  to  the 
more  or  less  mythical  spot  where  your  fabulous 
air-ship  does  or  does  not  exist,  I'll  take  a  few  min 
utes  some  day  and  figure  it  out.  Don't  worry  about 
the  monopoly  end  of  the  deal.  That's  mere  dev 
iltry,  and  in  derogation  of  the  common  good,  and, 
therefore,  easy.  But  you've  got  to  bring  forth  actu 
alities.  Be  calm  about  me,  old  scout,  and  look  to 
yourself." 

After  retiring  they  lay  awake  exchanging  re 
marks  and  suggestions  across  the  dark  room. 

"Oh,  about  that  money,"  said  Carson.  "I  must 
return  it  to  Doctor  Witherspoon,  Craighead.  You 
won't  misunderstand  me,  will  you?" 

"Not  in  the  least,"  replied  Craighead  sleepily. 
"Ingrowing  conscience,  and  all  that  rot  Get  over 
it  as  you  get  richer,  you  know." 

"I  shouldn't  much  object,"  said  Carson,  "to  your 
making  a  fair  fee  out  of  it;  for  they  really  confined 
me  here — " 

"I  allowed  myself  a  fee  of  fifty  per  cent,"  said 
Craighead.  "It's  buried,  far,  far  beyond  your  ken, 


152    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

even  as  Tige  burieth  the  bone.  That  roll  you've  got 
is  only  your  half,  sonny.  Any  time  Craighead,  the 
sleuth,  gets  left — but  let  me  sleep,  gentle  knight, 
I  would  fain  dream  of  Caroline!" 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  INCEPTION  OF  "UNCLE  THEODORE" 

TO  a  man  like  Theodore  Carson,  who,  in  a 
desperate  sort  of  groundlessness  for  hope, 
had  for  a  long  time  nevertheless  hoped,  ar 
bitrarily  and  with  youthful  audacity,  leaning  the 
ladder  by  which  he  mounted  against  the  clouds  of 
his  vision,  the  transition  to  a  merely  rational  hope 
was  uncomfortable,  disquieting.  Dreams  are  so 
plastic.  The  chateau  en  Espagne  is  built  of  smoke 
wreaths  and  based  on  morning  mists ;  but  the  family 
dwelling  rises  through  compromises  with  the  ex 
actions  of  other  minds,  in  blue-prints,  elevations, 
perspectives,  title  deeds  and  plumbing  estimates. 

His  mind,  habituated  to  the  airy  ease  of  an  un- 
uttered  faith  in  his  mastership  of  the  air,  felt  the 
galling  of  reality  as  he  walked  westward  from  the 
station  toward  dilapidated  Carson's  Landing. 
While  remorselessly  computing  everything  relating 
to  the  aeronef,  allowing  for  errors  and  providing 
cannily  for  the  "margin  of  safety,"  while  certain 
as  experiment  could  make  him  that  it  would  fulfil 

153 


154   VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

his  promise  to  Mr.  Waddy,  he  had  been,  save  in  his 
engineering,  a  visionary,  unacquainted  with  the 
world  and  its  "margin  of  safety." 

Seated  on  a  stump  he  sought  mental  adjustment 
before  entering  his  house.  He  had  had  his  chance 
with  Shayne,  "the  Prince  of  the  Powers  of  the  Air," 
and  had  thrown  it  away  in  hot  words  to  Shayne, 
in  a  blow  to  Silberberg,  and  by  leaping  from  the 
Roc  into  the  unknown  abyss  of  night.  These  were 
actualities.  The  broken  deflector  of  the  parachute 
he  carried  proved  that,  as  did  the  memory  of  his 
foolishness  over  Shayne's  niece,  now  happily  for 
ever  past. 

The  sun  shone  down  with  April  warmth  on  the 
red  soil,  the  Bermuda  grass  sod  of  the  old  fields, 
the  bleaching  shingles  of  the  old  house.  Blue  with 
magic  was  the  clump  of  high  pines  across  the  clear 
ing,  the  haze  and  dream  of  an  Alabama  spring. 
The  woodpeckers  wove  festoons  of  flame  from  tree 
to  tree;  the  tall  Spanish  bayonets  stood  like  a  row 
of  saluting  guards  by  the  road ;  the  buckeye  touched 
every  angle  of  the  fence  with  fire;  the  oleanders 
at  the  corners  of  the  gallery  blushed  faintly  pink. 
He  knew  that  from  the  scuppernong  arbor  the  car 
penter  bees  were  voyaging  back  and  forth,  tiny 
black  aerostats,  from  the  blossoms  to  tunneled  gal 
leries  in  the  red  cedar  rails  of  the  old  veranda. 
They  were  boring  audibly  in  the  rail,  their  saw- 


"UNCLE    THEODORE"  155 

dust  scattered  over  the  cypress  floor.  The  whole 
familiar  scene,  so  peaceful,  so  utterly  at  one  with 
the  irresponsible  past,  aided  that  enchanting  south 
ern  haze  in  restoring  illusion,  obliterating  realities, 
and  relegating  to  dreamland  the  incredible  Slattery 
Institute,  Mr.  Craighead,  Mr.  Waddy,  his  "rever 
sion  to  type,"  and  the  great  "Carson-Craighead 
Aeronef  Corporation." 

Mr.  Waddy's  money  and  Mr.  Craighead's  tele 
grams  saved  the  day  for  the  real.  The  former  was 
actual  currency,  and  felt  comforting  to  his  pocket. 
The  latter  proved  the  objectivity  of  Craighead — 
and  if  Craighead  turned  out  to  be  substantial,  any 
thing  might  be  believed. 

The  first  three  yellow  despatches  had  come  in 
one  delivery  at  Nashville,  addressed  to  "Theodore 
Carson,  the  Illustrious  Inventor  and  Thaumaturge, 
Care  Conductor,  Train  75."  Theodore,  the  Illus 
trious,  could  not  accumulate  the  courage  to  ask  for 
them,  but  the  wise  conductor  had  pounced  sud 
denly  upon  him  and  said,  "I  reckon  you're  Mr. 
Carson  ?" 

"Yield  not  to  temptation,  fear  or  cold  feet,"  the 
first  read.  "Your  Uncle  Fuller  is  at  the  helm." 
This  was  signed  "The  Great  Uncalled,"  with  the 
first  two  words  run  together  as  "Thegreat"  in  a 
telegraph  operator's  effort  to  reduce  to  the  sem 
blance  of  a  name  Mr.  Craighead's  nom  de  guerre. 


156   VIRGINIA    OF   THE    AIR    LANES 

The  second  ran:  "Have  no  fear;  monopoly  is  as 
clear  in  the  air  as  on  the  land.  Apologies  to  Sir 
Humphrey  Gilbert.  None  to  any  one  else  by  a 
dam  site.  Conspuez  Shayne."  This  was  signed 
"Craighead,  the  Legal  Bloodhound."  "An  old 
Broom,"  ran  the  more  mysterious  next,  "albeit 
minus  one  cover  and  dog's-eared,  nevertheless 
sweeps  clean.  He  yokes  the  whirligig  to  our  car, 
and  sweeps  the  howling  skies !"  (Signed)  "Dandy 
Jim  of  Caroline  Graybill."  The  fourth,  delivered 
at  Birmingham,  was  addressed  to  General  Theo 
dore  Carson,  M.  A.  ("Monopolist  of  the  Air"), 
and  consisted  of  ten  repetitions  of  "Eureka,"  signed 
"D.  J.  of  C."  The  last  came  at  Bay  Minette,  and 
was  too  astonishing  to  be  explained  on  any  theory 
consistent  with  Craighead's  sobriety  and  sanity. 
"Caroline's  dad,"  it  read,  "falls  dead  at  unveiling 
of  Broom  idea.  Sees  absolute  cinch,  and  rises  to 
it  as  per  lifelong  custom.  Formed  to-day  Universal 
Nitrates  and  Air  Products  Company.  Laws  of 
West  Virginia.  You  come  in  for  twenty-five  per 
cent.  Caroline  impressed.  Either  universal  genius 
or  rodents  in  campanile.  Greatly  encouraged,  not 
to  say  titivated.  Almost  converted  to  belief  in  my 
own  schemes  and  self,  but  am  cautiously  suspend 
ing  judgment.  Will  have  Chicago  surrounded  by 
time  you  return.  Go  east  to  Wheeling  (or  is  Charles 
ton  capital?)  to-night,  and  will  incidentally  run 


"UNCLE   THEODORE"  157 

up  and  construct  first  line  of  circumvallation  (see 
cyclopedia)  about  Greater  New  York.  Monopoly 
end  of  deal  absolutely  nailed  down;  brass  nails; 
with  Waddy  doubloons  coming  copious.  Up  to  you 
to  produce  flier.  Getting  wabbly  in  head.  Losing 
faith  in  you  as  concrete  entity.  Have  you  any  aero- 
nef?  Answer  'Yes'  or  'No'  at  once."  This  also 
was  signed  "D.  J.  of  Caroline." 

If  the  telegrams  were  inexplicable,  his  own  yield 
ing  of  command  to  this  man  Craighead,  whose  an 
tecedents  and  surroundings  should  have  made  any 
one  cautious,  was  more  so.  Yet  Craighead  had  taken 
control  by  sheer  audacity.  These  baffling  com 
munications,  the  odd  skips  and  jumps  of  his  intel 
lect  in  conversation — were  they  the  capers  of  insan 
ity,  or  the  fundamentally  rational  movements  of  a 
mind  showing  its  devious  course  at  intervals  only, 
uttering  things  which  appeared  unrelated  because 
the  path  from  position  to  position  was  passed  so 
swiftly  and  directly  that  the  ordinary  mind  lost 
sight  of  it,  as  one  catches  glimpses  of  a  humming 
bird  only  at  the  moments  of  its  rest  before  the 
flowers? 

What  could  he  mean  by  an  "an  old  Broom"? 
The  old  copy  of  Broom's  Legal  Maxims  in  Craig- 
head's  "library"  was  indeed  minus  a  cover,  and 
dog's-eared;  but  how  this  "Broom"  could,  even  in 
metaphor,  yoke  the  whirligig  to  any  car  and  sweep 


158    VIRGINIA    OF   THE    AIR    LANES 

the  howling  skies,  Carson  could  not  guess.  Mr. 
Waddy's  demand  for  aeronautical  monopoly  was 
being  complied  with,  to  Mr.  Craighead's  mind,  and 
the  last  telegram  seemed  to  imply  that  the  bucolic 
financier  had  been  convinced.  His  "falling  dead" 
might  mean  much  or  little;  but  his  "doubloons  com 
ing  copious"  was  eloquent  of  faith.  And  what  in 
the  name  of  all  the  gods  at  once  could  a  "Universal 
Nitrates  and  Air  Products  Company"  mean  in  an 
aerial  navigation  deal?  Or  those  mysterious  ex 
pressions  about  "surrounding"  Chicago  and  Greater 
New  York? 

Well,  Aunt  Chloe  was  in  there,  shuffling  about, 
wondering  where  he  might  be,  and  here  he  was, 
looking  on  spectrally  and  unsuspected.  With  the 
common  human  impulse  to  secret  approach,  Theo 
dore  walked  on,  concealed  between  the  Spanish  bay 
onets  and  a  somber  line  of  red  cedars,  climbed  the 
end  of  the  veranda,  scuttled  into  the  broad  hall  and 
up  to  his  room,  into  which  he  stepped  quickly; 
breathing  a  little  hard.  He  opened  the  closet  for 
a  change  of  clothes,  and  started  back  in  wonder 
ment  quite  as  paralyzing  as  horror;  for  his  clothes 
were  gone!  Instead,  there  sat  a  huge  trunk  with 
its  lid  back,  its  open  tray  full  of  silken  hosiery, 
corsets,  laces,  gloves,  handkerchiefs,  and  open-work 
things  of  mystery  and  terror.  On  the  hooks  were 
many,  many  others  quite  as  awful :  frilled  and 


"UNCLE   THEODORE"  159 

tucked  and  ruffled  and  plaited  garments ;  silks,  dim 
ities,  cashmeres,  linens,  cottons  and  soft  light  wool 
ens,  filling  his  closet;  and  spread  against  the  wall 
for  occult  reasons  connected  with  keeping  them  in 
shape;  and  protruding  from  the  trunk  were  more 
clothes,  while  in  corners  of  the  bedroom  were  more 
trunks. 

To  make  sure  that  he  was  in  his  own  house,  and 
not  a  profaner  of  the  shrine  of  some  divinity  of 
lace  and  open-work,  he  looked  from  the  window. 
Yes,  this  was  Carson's  Landing.  The  gourds  hang 
ing  from  tall  poles;  the  martins  chattering  from 
them;  the  china  tree  full  of  blossoms  like  lilac 
blooms,  humming  with  bees  and  visited  incessantly 
by  crimson  bee-birds — all  these  he  knew.  But  this, 
this  corset:  with  its  lacings  unrove  it  lay  there  like 
a  mold  awaiting  the  casting  of  a  Phidian  Psyche. 
The  name  entering  his  mind  made  him  tremble.  He 
picked  up  the  fragrant  garment  with  the  pink  rib-* 
bons  edging  it,  and  looked  at  it  with  something  of 
the  terror  of  Charmides  in  the  shrine  of  Artemis. 
He  had  forgotten  the  marvel  of  their  presence  in 
that  of  the  things  themselves;  for  he  was  para- 
disiacally  innocent,  an  engineering  hermit. 

A  light  step  sounded  without,  and  he  froze  with 
the  corset  in  his  hand  to  a  statue  of  panic  and  trance 
and  paralysis.  Some  one  entered,  his  heart  bounded, 
and  then  stood  still ;  for  it  was  Psyche  of  the  dunes, 


160    VIRGINIA   OF   THE   AIR    LANES 

Shayne's  niece,  Virginia,  entering  jauntily,  mad 
deningly,  like  a  real  woman  taking  possession  of 
his  bedroom  as  her  own!  She  had  a  little  subjec-, 
tively  derived  smile  on  her  lips,  held  in  her  hands> 
a  spray  of  huckleberry  blooms,  which  she  put  to 
her  nostrils,  and  then  stuck  in  a  vase  by  the  old; 
mirror.  She  took  off  the  memorable  red  hat,  and 
pulled  up  her  skirt  with  affrighting  recklessness, 
examined  her  dainty  stockings  for  dust  or  burs,  and 
dropped  the  skirt  with  a  little  flirt,  like  a  wren  shak 
ing  a  raindrop  from  her  tail.  She  did  a  dozen, 
things  to  make  one  fear  the  fate  of  Tom  of  Coven 
try.  Every  time  she  looked  his  way,  Theodore 
quaked,  even  more  than  at  her  alarming  actions  in 
ignorance  of  his  presence.  If  she  would  only  go 
out!  Why  was  she  here?  Was  she  here?  If  he 
could  only  slip  out !  What  was  she  going  to  do  now  ? 
She  had  opened  the  window  as  if  discomforted  by 
the  heat.  Sitting  down  with  her  profile  to  him 
and  her  side  to  the  window,  she  fanned  herself 
with  the  fan  he  used  to  dry  his  face  after  shavingv' 
She  smiled  up  at  a  college  banner,  his  only  chattel, 
save  the  fan,  exempted  from  her  writ  of  dispos 
session.  She  fanned  herself  quite  vigorously;  and 
then,  as  if  still  oppressed  by  the  heat,  she  stepped 
to  the  mirror,  unpinned  the  brooch  at  her  throat — 
and  began  reaching  back  for  the  buttons  of  her 
dress.  Providential  instinct,  and  memory  of  his  own 


"UNCLE    THEODORE"  161 

days  of  roundabouts  and  shirt-waists,  admonished 
Theodore  that  it  was  time  for  action. 

"Psyche!"  he  stammered. 

With  a  little  scream  she  darted  toward  the  door; 
recognized  him  as  he  emerged  from  the  closet; 
noted  his  paleness;  turned  back,  her  hand  on  her 
breast,  and  a  quick  palpitation  in  the  "V"  of  her 
gown,  like  the  heart  of  a  snared  robin.  Yet  she  was 
the  least  excited  of  the  twain.  Her  alarm  ceased 
with  her  recognition  of  him;  for  this  boy  had 
shown  himself  one  to  be  trusted.  The  sense  of 
escape  and  secrecy  which  she  had  associated  with 
him  from  their  first  curious  meeting  at  the  robber's 
cabin  in  the  dunes,  returned. 

"My  robber,"  said  she,  in  a  half  whisper.  "O, 
I'm  so  glad." 

"Psyche,"  said  he,  "when  you  say  you  are 
glad—" 

He  pulled  up  short  with  a  lump  in  his  throat, 
unable  to  pass  the  Rubicon  between  strangers. 

"Oh,  I'm  so  glad  you  aren't  dashed  to  pieces!" 
she  cried.  "I've  seen  you  falling,  falling,  falling, 
in  my  dreams,  and  never  alighting!  But  evidently 
you  did!" 

"Yes,"  said  he,  "quite  safe !  But  how  came  you 
here?" 

"Oh,  I  live  here,"  said  she.  "But  how  did  you 
know?  Or  did  you  just  happen?  Shall  I  hide 


162    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

you?  I'll  never  betray  you,  never!  no  matter  what 
they  say  you've  done!" 

"You — belong — here?"  repeated  Theodore  won- 
deringly.  "Here?  You — you  live  here?" 

"Yes,"  said  she  hurriedly.  "With  my  uncle.  I 
couldn't  endure  the  Shaynes  and  Silberbergs  any 
longer.  Why,  the  way  they  did  just  drives  people  to 
crime !  And  if  you  did  anything,  it  was  in  open  war 
with  the  officers,  and  not  by  stealth  as  the  Shaynes 
and  Silberbergs  do.  I  told  them  so  to  their  teeth — 
only  you  ought  to  reform  and  all  that,  you  know. 
And  I  couldn't  bear  Aunt  Marie  any  more,"  here 
the  voice  trembled,  "though  everybody  will  say  I'm 
ungrateful,  and  all  that.  And  General  Carson's 
family  are  all  my  relatives  in  the  world,  except 
the  Shaynes.  And  this  is  their  plantation — my 
uncle  that  I  never  saw  lives  here — and  I  came  to 
him.  I  hope  he  won't  hate  me !  I'd  rather  not  have 
to  ask  him  to  shelter  a  robber  the  very  first  thing; 
and  so  I  hope  you  aren't  pursued.  But  if  you  are, 
I'll  hide  you  before  I'll  see  you  caught.  There!" 

Mr.  Carson  reeled  back  against  the  wall,  drew  his 
hands  across  his  eyes,  and  looked  again.  She 
seemed  to  be  there  still,  rather  nearer  than  before, 
hands  clasped  in  adorable  anxiety,  divinest  pity  in 
her  eyes. 

"I  am  in  no  danger,"  said  he.  "Pardon  me  for 
intruding  here.  It  was  by  mistake.  Permit  me  to 


"UNCLE    THEODORE"  1163 

ask  the  honor  of  an  interview  at  a  more  convenient 
time  and  place." 

Mr.  Carson  of  Carson's  Landing,  the  last  of  the 
Carsons,  now  spoke — with  some  approach  to  man 
ner  and  form  as  by  tradition  required. 

"Oh,  I'm  so  glad  you  are — are  safe,"  she  cried. 
"I  want  you  to  stay  to  luncheon.  I  can't  give  you 
any  quail  broth,  nor  strong  remedies,  but — " 

"Thank  you,"  he  returned.  "I  shall  esteem  it  an 
honor." 

This  was  nearer  to  the  conventional  than  any 
thing  yet.  She  gathered  her  gown  about  her 
throat,  looked  about  at  the  room — and  blushed. 
Luncheon  with  this  girl-faced  boy  with  the  jetty 
mustache — compliments — they  did  not  harmonize 
with  the  trunks  spilling  lingerie,  the  white  counter- 
paned  bed. 

"Perhaps,"  she  went  on,  "if  you  really  aren't 
afraid  of  being  caught — you  might  go  away,  now — 
to  the  parlor,  I  mean." 

Carson  turned  scarlet,  bowed  grandly,  and 
walked  toward  the  door. 

"And,"  said  she,  blushing  still  more  rosily,  "if 
you  are  quite  sure  you  don't  mind — please  leave 
me — my  corset!" 

Mr.  Carson  looked  down  at  his  hand,  saw  with 
unspeakable  horror  that  he  had  held,  during  the 
whole  colloquy,  the  Psyche  mold,  dropped  it 


1 64    VIRGINIA    OF   THE    AIR    LANES 

hastily,  and  rushed  incontinently  from  the  room  in 
an  agony  of  mind  quite  out  of  proportion  to  the  real 
damage  done  by  his  involuntary  act.  He  did  not 
run  and  drown  himself  in  Fish  River,  but  when 
he  tried  to  divine  what  Virginia's  theory  as  to  his 
purpose  in  taking  possession  of  the  garment  in  the 
first  place  must  be,  he  felt  like  doing  so  rather  than 
meeting  her  at  luncheon.  It  was  a  terrible  situation. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

AT  THE   MARGIN  OF  SAFETY 

OF  course,  it's  a  shock,"  said  Miss  Suarez, 
"to  find  you—" 
"I  am  sorry,"  said  Theodore,  "to  have 
shocked  you  by  being  visible.     I — " 

"Oh,  now,"  said  Miss  Suarez.  "Try  to  supply 
ellipses — and — and  those  things.  I  meant,  to  find 
you,  so — " 

"So  incapable  of — so  lacking  in  the  qualities  of 
.— of— of— " 

"You're  gradually  getting  closer  to  it,"  com 
mented  Virginia.  "Our  danger,  where  there  is  no 
body  hanging  about  to  sort  of  mitigate — no,  not 
that— to— to— " 

"To  absorb  and  diffuse  the  'shock/  "  suggested 
the  engineer. 

"The  very  word,"  said  she.  "Why,  uncle,  you're 
clever — once  in  a  while — " 

"Thank  you,  Miss  Virginia !     I — " 

"Don't  interrupt,  please.  Our  danger  here  in 
the  wilderness,  is  that  of  not  catching  the  shades 

165 


1 66    VIRGINIA    OF   THE    AIR    LANES 

of  expression,  the  nuances  one  has  to  have  ground 
into  one's  system  with  regard  to  one's  friends — if 
nuances  can  be  ground  into  anything — and  that  we'll 
misunderstand,  and  fight,  and  pull  hair  needlessly. 
Doesn't  that  cover  the  case?" 

"While  a  very  concise  statement  of  some  of  the 
dangers,"  said  he,  "I  don't  think  it  does,  quite. 
But  you  were  saying  I  lack  some  quality.  Please 
go  on." 

"The  quality  of  unclehood,"  said  she.  "You 
don't  create  the  role.  I  suppose  my  image  of  a 
charming  young  robber — for  you're  not  bad  look 
ing,  uncle — you  know?" 

Theodore  blushed,  but  strove  to  keep  on  a  high 
and  avuncular  plateau  of  platitudes. 

"Piracy  and  yeggism,  and  those  things,  are  so 
incompatible  with  one's  only  surviving  live-with- 
able  uncle,"  said  Virginia. 

"In  The  Babes  in  the  Wood,1'  said  Theodore, 
"the  uncle  was  quite  that  sort." 

"I  thought  you  were  going  to  make  another  ap 
plication,"  said  she.  "The  odd  thing  with  us — 
I  like  living  with  you  immensely — is  that,  you 
seem  a  Babe  in  the  Woods  more  than  an  uncle, 
and  I  the  other." 

"I  scarcely  think — ,"  began  Mr.  Carson. 

"Oh,  I  know  you're  venerable,"  she  assured  him, 
"or  you  wouldn't  have  invented  so  much.  But  after 


AT    THE    MARGIN    OF    SAFETY     167 

tumbling  out  of  that  crazy  helicopter  at  your  feet, 
and  being  treated — you  know  what  I  mean — and 
being  put  to  bed  after  that  potion ;  and  read  to  about 
dynamos — that  was  quite  uncleish — and  your  car 
rying  me  home,  and  going  north  in  the  Roc,  and 
acting  so  lofty  and  silly — and  dear! — with  Silber- 
berg,  until  his  beaky  old  nose  bled,  and  jumping 
off  the  ship  miles  above  a  rocky  and  barbed  and 
spiky  country  in  the  night  and  storm — and  I  feeling 
so  superior,  as  one  does  to  a  brigand — and  rather 
making  a  hero  of  you — and  then  to  find  you  my 
uncle,  with  a  little,  silky,  kid's  mustache — isn't  there 
an  incongruity?  Surely  you  can  understand — " 

"Perfectly,"  said  Theodore,  ignoring  the  frivol 
ous  things.  "What  I  wish  you  to  understand,  is 
how  honored  I  am  to  be  your  guardian — even 
though  I  don't  deserve  it" 

"Oh,  but  you  do !"  said  she.  "You  began  baby 
ing  me  when  I  tumbled  down.  And  if  you  aren't 
a  Methuselah,  there's  the  Carson  blood,  isn't 
there?" 

"There's  the  Carson  blood,"  assented  Theodore 
uneasily.  "And  the  trust  that  blood  alone  couldn't 
confer." 

"And  the  relationship  must  stand  in  the  place  of 
years,"  said  Virginia.  "For  I  can't  go  back  to  the 
Shaynes.  I'm  afraid  they'll  find  me,  and  make 
me—" 


168    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

"You  shall  not  go  back!"  said  Theodore. 
"Never!" 

"My,  my!"  said  Virginia.  "How  fierce,  uncle! 
And  now,  let's  go  fishing." 

Yes,  Theodore  had  fallen !  Fleeing  the  best  bed 
room,  in  which  Aunt  Chloe  had  established  Miss 
Suarez,  he  had  unmoored  his  launch  for  flight,  but, 
reconsidering,  had  demanded  of  Chloe  an  explana 
tion — not  of  the  changed  lodgings,  but  of  the  in 
comprehensible  mystery  of  the  presence,  under  a 
statement  that  she  lived  there,  of  Shayne's  niece, 
who  had  so  stirred  his  life  by  falling  from  aloft 
to  his  feet,  nameless  to  him  save  for  the  cognomen 
of  Psyche. 

"She's  come  to  live  with  we-all,"  said  Aunt 
Chloe,  assuming  in  him  the  chivalrous  fidelity  of 
all  southern  gentlemen  to  their  women  relatives. 
"She's  kin  o'  ou'n." 

Theodore  gasped.  He  was  not  aware  that  he 
had  any  kin,  to  say  nothing  of  kinship  with  this 
girl  from  New  York,  niece  to  Shayne,  and  whose 
southern  blood  seemed  her  only  claim  to  consan 
guinity  with  him. 

"There  must  be  some  mistake,"  said  he.  "How 
can  she  be  related  to  me,  Chloe?" 

"W'y,  yo'  some  kine  o'  uncle  to  huh,"  replied 
Chloe.  "Huh  mothah  was  a  daughtah  to  Ole 
Gin'ral  Cahson.  She  married  Lee  Suarez,  and 


AT   THE    MARGIN    OF    SAFETY     169 

died.  Miss  Ginnie  knowed  about  us,  an'  when  huh 
aunt  throwed  huh  off'n  the  aiah-ship  foh  stan'nin' 
up  foh  you,  she  come  hyah,  ez  she  had  a  raght  to, 
suh." 

"But  she  'didn't  know  I  was  here?"  Theodore 
suggested. 

"Oh,  law,  no,"  replied  Aunt  Chloe.  "She  don't 
know  yo'  Mistah  Carson  yit,  onless  you  tole  huh." 

"But,  Aunt  Chloe,  we  aren't  any  kin  to  old  Gen 
eral  Carson,  are  we?  And  I'm  no  uncle  to  this 
young  lady,  am  I?" 

Aunt  Chloe  drew  herself  up  in  indignation. 

"I  reckon  yo'  paw  frail  you  out  good,  ef  he  hyah 
you  say  that!"  said  she.  "Hev  Ah  been  wuckin' 
foh  po'  whites  all  these  yeahs?  Yo'  sho  as  clus 
as  uncle.  ;Yo'  paw  knowed  he  was  a  Cahson.  Doan 
talk  to  me!" 

"What  have  you  told  her  about  this  relation 
ship?"  said  Theodore. 

"She  done  knowed  all  erbout  it,"  said  Chloe. 

"Did  she  know  how  father — how  nobody  thinks 
we  are  any  kin  to  the  general,  and — " 

"Who  you  mean  by  nobody?"  queried  Chloe.  "Ah 
reckon  we  some  kin,  o'  ou'  name  wouldn't  be  Cahson, 
would  it?  Ah  tuk  huh  in  as  a  Cahson.  If  you  tuk 
huh  in  yo'  ahms,  an'  squenched  huh  teahs,  I  reckon 
you  wouldn't  be  bringin'  up  these  heavy  argu 
ments." 


170    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

Ah,  how  close  a  shot  did  Chloe  make  when  she 
used  this  plea.  If  he  could  only  have  held  her  in 
his  arms !  But  she  would  think  of  him  as  a  clod 
hopper — she  must.  If  he  had  but  gone  more  into 
society,  instead  of  grinding  all  the  time — at  aero- 
nefs,  and  the  like.  And  now,  he  was  irretrievably 
at  a  disadvantage,  by  his  gross  misbehavior  in  the 
bedroom — standing  like  an  idiot,  she  deeming  him 
a  fugitive,  holding  in  his  hand — oh,  the  enormity  of 
it! — her  corset.  The  unpardonable  sin,  if  ever  one 
committed  it! 

Nevertheless,  he  sent  Aunt  Chloe  to  inform  Miss 
Suarez  that  the  robber  of  the  South  Beach,  and 
the  stowaway  of  the  Roc,  was  no  other  than  the 
man  with  whom,  in  a  touching  confidence  in  the  old 
chivalry  which  regards  an  unprotected  woman  rela 
tive  as  a  sacred  charge,  and  lays  the  obligation  of 
gratitude  on  the  man  rendering  the  service,  she  had 
come  to  live. 

Uncle  Theodore  was  stately,  ceremonious,  and 
with  due  allowance  for  sundry  blushes  when  Miss 
Virginia  emitted  a  little  giggle,  promptly  smoth 
ered  in  her  napkin,  quite  grand  in  his  demeanor  at 
luncheon.  He  formally  kissed  Virginia's  hand — 
and  when  she  told  of  her  need,  of  her  reliance  on 
the  Carson  fidelity,  he  yielded  to  the  temptation 
without  a  moment's  hesitation.  He  became  her  un 
cle,  entered  calmly  upon  the  deception,  oblivious 


AT    THE    MARGIN    OF    SAFETY     171 

of  the  vast  consequences  involved,  or  of  the  real 
right  and  wrong  of  the  matter.  She  trusted  him, 
she  made  claims  upon  him;  and  she  was  not  to  be 
pained  by  explanations.  He  was  only  a  boy,  you 
know. 

"I  have  the  honah,"  said  he,  "to  drink  your 
health — the  health  of  the  jewel  and  the  hope  of 
the  Carson  family." 

She  rose,  as  if  at  the  formal  signal  for  withdrawal, 
took  both  his  hands,  and  kissed  him  on  the  forehead. 
There  were  tears  in  her  eyes. 

"Thank  you,  Uncle  Theodore,"  said  she;  and 
went  out  slowly,  without  looking  at  him.  He  stood 
there,  quite  motionless,  until  he  heard  her  walking 
about  in  the  upper  hall. 

He  was  wrong,  of  course;  but  there  were  ex 
culpating  circumstances.  The  situation,  almost  im 
mediately,  however,  approached  the  impossible.  In 
the  first  place,  Theodore  had  expected  to  make  only 
a  day's  halt,  to  push  on,  get  his  motors,  and  go  to^ 
the  South  Beach — where  Captain  Harrod  wondered 
at  his  long  absence — install  his  engines,  and  fly 
north,  where  Craighead  was  organizing  companies 
at  a  rate  that  would  have  dazed  Mr.  Carson,  had 
he  not  been  already  dazed. 

The  first  day,  he  sent  orders  for  the  shipment 
of  the  engines,  and  began  to  provide  better  equip 
ment  for  the  house.  He  brought,  as  a  companion  for 


Miss  Suarez,  an  elderly  widow,  Mrs.  Stott,  who 
was  addicted  to  the  writing  of  poems  of  a  love-lorn 
nature.  Virginia's  opinion  of  her  new  uncle's 
worldly  wisdom  rose  at  this  provision  for  chaperon- 
age  ;  but  she  gave  him  too  much  credit.  He  merely 
thought  of  Virginia's  becoming  lonely. 

He  could  not  depart  until  sure  that  "Miss  Vir 
ginia"  would  not  feel  slighted  should  he  push  on. 
Every  morning  opened  new  avenues  of  service. 
They  began  reading  a  book — and  they  had  to  finish 
it.  She  was  fond  of  fishing.  She  wanted  to  explore 
the  upper  reaches  of  the  river;  and  they  spent  long 
days  on  the  stream.  Mrs.  Stott  was  afraid  of  the 
water — and  still  more  afraid  of  Virginia — and  they 
went  alone,  while  that  good  lady  wrote  verses  and 
mailed  them  to  heartless  publishers. 

"How  can  she  do  such  things?"  said  Virginia, 
one  day. 

"Why  not?"  inquired  Theodore.  "They  sound 
a  good  deal  like — like  the  other  poets." 

"But  she's  so — so  puddingy!"  urged  Virginia. 
"And  she  has  a  mustache!" 

"That,"  said  he,  advancing  the  spark,  "would 
not  seem  material.  Shakespeare  had  one." 

Virginia  was  trailing  her  hand  through  the 
water,  and  looking  at  the  bubbles. 

"A  great  engineer,"  said  she,  "but  you  don't  shine 
in  literary  criticism." 


AT   THE    MARGIN    OF    SAFETY     173 

"Was  it  that  kind?"  he  queried. 

Virginia  drew  in  her  hand.  The  implied  rebuke 
stung  her. 

"Of  course,  I'm  a  nasty  little  cat,"  said  she,  "to 
find  fault.  But  you  are  not  to  jump  on  me  like 
that,  unkie.  I  won't  have  it.  Now,  take  your  old 
big  handkerchief  and  wipe  my  hand.  It's  awfully 
cold  with  the  wind  blowing  on  it." 

Theodore  complied,  and  held  the  hand  a  mo 
ment — to  warm  it.  She  drew  it  away  gently,  and 
with  a  smile. 

"We'll  have  Mrs.  Stott  go  home,"  said  he.  "I 
should  have  known — " 

"Now,  please,  uncle,"  said  she,  "don't  be  mad! 
I  want  her.  And  I'll  try  to  resist  her  inflamed  sen 
timents.  She  doesn't  bother  a  bit — I'll  say  that 
for  her." 

So  Mrs.  Stott  stayed,  a  most  unsafe  duenna  under 
the  circumstances.  And  Theodore  stayed  also. 
There  were  so  many  things  to  do.  Craighead's  tele 
grams  came  in  from  the  east,  still  Delphic  in  sig 
nificance.  One  reported  that  New  York  was  prac 
tically  "surrounded;"  another,  that  the  country 
would  soon  be  "gridironed."  Theodore  was  deaf 
to  voices  from  the  outer  world.  A  letter  from  Har- 
rod,  proving  that  the  news  of  his  return  had  reached 
the  cabin  in  the  dunes,  lay  on  the  old  escritoire 
one  morning.  Theodore  inserted  a  paper-knife  in 


the  envelop,  half  cut  it  open — and  saw  Virginia's 
dress  glimmering  outside.  The  half-opened  letter 
fell  to  the  desk  and  Uncle  Theodore  leaped  out  on 
the  veranda. 

She  came  up  to  the  gallery,  and  leaned  her  chin 
on  the  rail. 

"Morning,  uncle!"  said  she.  "Have  you  slept 
well?" 

"Fine." 

"You  don't  look  it,"  said  she.  "Your  eyes  look 
dull.  You  devote  too  much  time  to  business  while 
your  family  is  asleep,  don't  you  ?" 

"Uncle"  thought  of  the  unopened  letter,  the  unan 
swered  telegrams,  the  neglected  business,  Mr.  Wad- 
dy's  money,  the  uncompleted  aeronef,  the  sleepless 
nights,  tormented  by — not  business,  at  all,  not  busi 
ness!  Decidedly  not! 

"I  slept  too  soundly,"  said  he.  "What's  the  pro 
gram  for  to-day  ?" 

She  wanted  some  magnolia  blossoms.  Uncle  The 
odore  thought  there  might  be  some  down  about 
Week's  Bay,  where  they  came  early. 

"Put  on  your  hat,"  said  he.  "Have  Chloe  pack 
'up  luncheon,  and  we'll  go  down." 

"Done!"  cried  she.  "You're  the  best  of  uncles! 
Let's  to  breakfast !  Can't  we  catch  a  speckled  trout  ?" 

"We  ought  to  get  all  we  want,"  said  Theodore. 

"And  cook  him  over  a  fire?" 


AT   THE    MARGIN    OF    SAFETY     175 

"Certainly!"  said  Theodore.  "And  soft-shelled 
crabs — we'll  have  a  great  day !" 

"Happy,  happy  youth,"  said  Mrs.  Stott — and 
sighed. 

"Uncle  Theodore,"  said  Virginia,  "is  neither 
youthful  nor  happy — he  must  have  a  nerve  special 
ist  or  quit  spilling  his  coffee!" 

"Some  pangs  are  more  delicious  than  joy,"  said 
Mrs.  Stott,  scrutinizing  Theodore  until  he  was  half 
wild.  "Pangs  of  spring,  youth  and  sweet  fellow 
ship  !" 

Theodore  ate  wolfishly,  and  drank  great  quan 
tities  of  coffee  to  show  that  he  was  in  fine  fettle — 
quite  unable  to  pick  up  his  end  of  the  conversation. 
It  was  youth  and  spring  and  sweet  fellowship, 
though  the  items  made  him  sick  of  Mrs.  Stott's 
table-talk.  He  wanted  the  river  and  Psyche,  know 
ing  that  he  ought  to  go  and  leave  her.  Every  night 
he  vowed  to  go  next  morning — and  laid  plans  for 
another  day  with  her. 

It  was  maddening.  She  brought  him  dresses, 
gloves  and  hats  for  criticism,  and  confided  to  him 
the  state  of  her  wardrobe.  She  reckoned  the  time 
before  she  must  have  any  more  dresses,  told  him 
what  her  stockings  and  underclothing  had  cost,  and 
asked  him  if  he  didn't  think  such  dreadful  prices 
absurd.  < 

"You  know  about  some  of  the  things,"  said  she 


1 76    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

roguishly.  "I  thought  once  that  you  must  be  a  col 
lector  of  corsets !" 

Uncle  Theodore  writhed  in  agony,  and  said  he 
was  sure  she  had  no  clothing  too  expensive  or  too 
fine — well  aware  that,  at  the  prices  named,  one 
month's  purchases  would  bankrupt  him. 

"I've  more  jewelry  than  I  need,"  said  she.  "I  can 
sell  that,  you  know." 

"No,  no!"  protested  Theodore.  "Never!" 

"But  some  of  it,"  said  she,  "I  don't  want.  Let  me 
show  you  some  perfectly  absurd  things !" 

Rings,  brooches,  bracelets,  a  pearl  necklace — none 
very  absurd;  then  two  bands  of  gold,  embellished 
with  Cupids  and  Venuses,  cunningly  linked  to  ex 
pand  or  contract  with  the  elastic  tape  through  them, 
and  each  clasped  with  clustered  diamonds  that 
dartled  blue  and  red.  Theodore  took  them  up  and 
admired  them — for  they  were  very  lovely. 

"How  beautiful !"  he  cried.  "How  I  should  like 
to  see  them  on  you !" 

"What  good  would  that  do  you,  silly?"  said  she. 
"I  don't  believe  you  know  what  they  are!" 

For  once,  the  blush  was  Virginia's. 

"They're  bracelets,  aren't  they?"  queried  Theo 
dore.  "Or  are  they  necklaces — or  girdles?" 

"Do  you  mean  to  say — ?"  She  stopped  and  in 
desperation  at  his  ignorance  added  plumply — 
"They're  my  Sunday-go-to-meeting  garters." 


AT   THE    MARGIN    OF    SAFETY     177 

Theodore  stretched  them  to  their  full  extent,  not 
quite  in  possession  of  the  idea;  and  looked  at  her 
as  if  in  incredulity.  Snatching  them  she  ran  to  her 
room,  really  put  to  flight — she  who  had  discussed 
things  quite  as  intimate  with  dozens  of  men,  with 
out  a  quiver  of  the  eyelash.  But  they,  she  said, 
weren't  babies ;  and  it  was  like  talking  ailments  to  a 
physician.  But  this  boy-uncle — he  really  was  the 
most  disturbing  creature!  She  felt  put  in  an  in 
delicate  position  by  the  immaculate  character-sheet 
of  the  young  savage.  While  he — he  felt  his  skin 
freeze  and  burn  alternately  at  that  awful  speech, 
beyond  pardon.  She  had  left  him  in  anger.  She 
would  never  speak  to  him  again — she  under  his  pro 
tection  by  his  own  deceit.  If  man  ever  was  bound 
to  suffer  death  rather  than  utter  a  syllable  of  re 
spectful  love,  even,  not  to  mention  disrespect. 
Somehow,  he  must  atone;  and  how  to  apologize 
without  grave  offense  was  a  question  sweated  over 
at  the  escritoire  in  unavailing  woe — until  she 
peeped  from  behind  the  door  and  said : 

"I  can  sell  the  absurd  things,  even  if  you  don't 
know  what  they  are.  They  obstruct  the  circulation, 
anyhow !" 

Theodore  tore  up  his  apologia  and  they  went  after 
berries. 

No  wonder  that  it  took  much  coffee  to  clear  his 
eyes  before  the  voyage  for  magnolia  blooms.  He 


1 78    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

had  walked  the  hall  in  his  stocking  feet  for  hours ; 
kissed  Virginia's  door  once  or  twice;  and  hurried 
to  bed  where  he  enacted  enough  two-character 
vaudeville  sketches  to  have  filled  all  the  circuits  in 
the  world.  In  all  these  the  avuncular  relation  was 
explained  away,  in  eloquence  which  brought  tears  to 
the  eyes  of  Uncle  Theodore,  the  one  dispassionate 
auditor.  "I  have  deceived  you,"  the  man-actor 
would  say.  "But  if  ever  man  had  highest  claims 
for  pardon,  I  am  he!  I  loved  you  so,  Virginia,  I 
could  not  send  you  away!  Will  not  love  win  par 
don  for  deceit?"  Sometimes  the  woman-character 
scorned  him,  and  he  died  of  a  broken  heart;  while, 
oftener,  she  whispered  that  she  must  punish  him, 
every  day  of  their  lives — by  staying  with  him. 
Then  he  died  of  joy.  So  there  was  a  new  leading 
man  at  every  performance  but  he  was  always  Theo 
dore  Carson;  and  Uncle  Theodore  always  shed 
copious  tears  on  the  pillow. 

At  a  ferry  en  route  Virginia  kissed  a  little  girl 
and  called  her  "sweetheart."  Virginia  wanted  to  see 
some  young  woodpeckers,  and  almost  wept  when 
the  one  Theodore  got  out  would  not  go  back  into 
the  nest,  but  fluttered  away,  crying  pitifully.  They 
got  some  magnolia  buds  which  the  "creole"  negro 
girl  said  would  surely  open,  adding  that  "all  the 
young  couples  came  for  them  on  Sundays."  Vir 
ginia  encountered  a  "spreadin'  adder"  ten  inches 


AT   THE    MARGIN    OF    SAFETY     179 

long,  and  ran  to  Theodore,  gathering  her  skirts  about 
her  plump  calves  in  terror;  and  he  calmed  and  com 
forted  her  on  a  high  and  fatherly  level. 

That  was  the  maddening  thing.  Everything  was 
maddening;  but  crisis  and  explosion  lay  in  the  fact 
that,  while  keeping  her  within  reach,  he  had  palsied 
the  arm  to  reach  her  withal ;  that  he  could  drop  no 
hint  of  those  nightly  visions;  that,  while  their  re 
lation  allowed  affection,  they  shut  out  love.  This 
life  gave  to  him  revelations  mostly  hidden  from 
lovers,  and  vouchsafed  to  fathers,  brothers  and  hus 
bands  only;  but  he  was  cut  off  from  the  endear 
ments  of  an  uncle,  even.  He  was  a  tiger-cub  licking 
his  master's  hand,  and  feeling  the  jungle  hunger 
for  it.  All  that  day  the  cub  had  been  on  the  very 
verge  of  devouring  somebody.  It  was  appalling.  All 
un-conscious  of  her  parlous  state,  Virginia  took  his 
arm  under  the  screening  row  of  cedars,  told  him 
what  a  delightful  day  she  had  had,  and  squeezed  his 
arm  while  she  said  it. 

Something  may  have  warned  her  that  this  was  a 
ticklish  thing  with  so  young  and  inexperienced  an 
uncle,  for  she  dropped  his  arm  and  ran  gaily  toward 
the  house,  looking  back  and  stepping  lightly  like  a 
kid — when  she  trod  in  a  hollow,  and  fell  in  a  heap 
on  the  Bermuda  grass.  Theodore  found  her  with 
her  ankle  gripped  in  her  hands,  and  her  lips  tight 
to  hold  back  a  cry.  A  hurried  question,  a  cheery 


i8o    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

reply  cut  in  two  with  a  twinge  of  pain,  and  he  picked 
her  up.  She  threw  her  arms  about  his  neck  to  ease 
the  burden.  Alas!  it  made  it  heavier!  The  fervor 
of  his  embrace  did  the  ankle  no  good,  and  nearly 
crushed  poor  Virginia.  The  color  rose  slowly  to  her 
brow,  as  he  set  her  down  on  the  veranda,  and  stood 
over  her,  breathing  hard.  She  rose  on  the  sound 
foot  and  tried  the  other  carefully. 

"It  isn't  bad  at  all,"  said  she.  "I  can  almost  walk 
on  it." 

Taking  off  the  shoe,  she  held  the  little  foot  in  her 
hand,  examining  the  ankle  critically. 

"Do  you  think  it's  swelling?"  she  asked. 

Theodore  tenderly  squeezed  the  shapely  ankle, 
and  rose  to  his  feet. 

"I  don't  know,"  said  he.  "I — Virginia — " 

He  had  seized  her  hand,  and  was  looking  at  her 
with  none  of  the  impersonality  of  the  surgeon  or 
physician.  She  did  not  take  her  hand  away  .  .  . 
He  dropped  it,  and  ran — ran — toward  the  river.  It 
was  very  rude;  yet  she  harbored  no  bitterness.  She 
had  Chloe  bandage  her  foot,  went  to  her  room,  took 
down  Theodore's  college  pennant,  restored  some 
stitches  to  it,  and  communed  with  her  magnolia 
blooms,  pressing  them  to  her  cheek  and  lips.  She 
called  them  "Poor  dears!  poor  dears!"  All  very 
curious;  for  it  ruins  magnolia  petals  to  be  touched. 
Perhaps  that  is  why  they  were  poor  dears;  flowers 


AT   THE    MARGIN    OF    SAFETY     181 

and  people  are  rather  pitifully  interesting  when  so 
delicately  made  that  it  ruins  them  to  be  touched.  But 
why  did  she  put  the  pennant  under  her  pillow? 

Theodore  was  absent  at  dinner,  without  apology ; 
and  the  women  were  in  bed  before  he  stole  to  his 
room,  and  lay  tossing  again.  Desperate,  he  rose 
and  went  to  the  library,  lighted  a  lamp,  saw  the 
still  sealed  letter  from  Captain  Harrod,  and  slashed 
it  open  as  if  it  had  been  the  breast  of  his  mortal  foe. 

"I  hear,"  it  ran,  "that  you  are  back  south.  I 
hope  you  can  come  right  soon.  The  engines  is  here 
for  ten  days.  I  am  right  clos'  run  fer  grub,  and 
need  sleep.  The  man  that  lost  the  flying  thing  the 
young  lady  come  in,  is  back.  He  is  right  crazy,  Mr. 
Theodore,  from  losing  his  machine.  He  keeps  try 
ing  to  git  into  the  shed,  and  yells  he  is  rooned,  and 
tore  off  a  plank,  and  I  have  to  stay  awake,  and  am 
about  all  in.  They  is  a  lot  of  letters  and  telegrams 
at  Palmetto  Beach.  Hoping  this  will  find  you  ready 
to  start,  I  remain  yours  truly, 

"CROCKER  HARROD." 

Theodore  struck  himself  on  the  breast  and  started 
to  his  feet,  determined  to  flee  to  his  work,  and  from 
the  dangers  of  his  unclehood.  Trembling  with  ex 
citement  he  attempted  a  note  to  Virginia.  Wizner 
at  the  cabin,  messages  at  the  Beach,  meant  danger 


182    VIRGINIA    OF   THE    AIR    LANES 

and  disgrace  if  He  neglected  his  task  longer,  infamy 
if  he  toyed  on  with  temptation.  He  told  Chloe 
through  her  door  that  he  had  been  called  away,  and 
that  she  must  explain  to  the  ladies.  He  hastily 
packed  a  bag,  ran  down  and  unmoored  the  launch, 
and  fled  down  the  river  at  a  speed  made  foolhardy 
by  the  darkness.  Emerging  into  Mobile  Bay,  he 
stood  toward  Palmetto  Beach,  his  eyes  straight  be 
fore  him,  steering  with  automatic  accuracy.  Only 
one  thing  roused  him  from  his  trance — a  white  ob 
ject  lying  on  the  gunwale,  which  he  picked  up  and 
placed  in  his  note-book — the  dropped  petal  of  a 
magnolia  bloom. 


CHAPTER  IX 

MR.    WIZNER  SECURES   A  COMMAND 

CAPTAIN  HARROD,  dignified,  barefooted, 
soft-voiced,  unkempt,  kept  his  lonely  vigil  on 
the  white  straight-edge  of  beach  that  lay 
from  Fort  Morgan  to  Perdido  Bay.  All  was  of 
sand,  sandy.  The  sand-colored  sandpipers  skittered 
across  the  beach  before  the  breezes;  pelicans  in 
sober  beach-gray  deliberately  skimmed  the  cottony 
combers  bursting  on  the  outer  sand-bar;  porpoises 
leaped  and  spouted  in  terror  when  caught  in  the  re 
ceding  tide  among  the  sandy  shallows  near  the 
shore;  and  once  in  a  while  an  evil-eyed  shark 
gloomed  cruelly  (like  a  spot  of  darker  sand  with 
cold  little  eyes)  from  the  green  water  beyond  reach 
of  the  fisherman's  gig.  To  the  unlettered  man  for 
seventy  years  familiar  with  such  things,  however, 
they  wax  uninteresting. 

So  one  may  understand  why  Captain  Harrod, 
ignoring  landscape  and  seascape,  devoted  himself 
to  the  study  of  tracks  of  all  sorts;  tracks  of  foxes 
examining  the  beach  for  turtles'  eggs,  months  ahead 

183 


1 84    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

of  time;  talon-marks  of  opossums  and  raccoons 
prowling  about  for  crabs,  mice  and  birds'  eggs; 
hoof-marks  of  wild  hogs,  rooting  over  the  mast 
under  the  scrub-oaks;  "crawls"  of  alligators,  made 
in  nightly  journeys  between  Freshwater  Lake  and 
deep  holes  in  the  pools  among  the  dunes;  long 
scratchy  claw-scores  of  herons  from  early  morn 
ing  minuets  on  the  beach;  trails  of  men  going  up 
and  down  the  sparsely-traveled  highway  of  the 
strand ;  and  the  footprints  of  one  in  particular,  who 
lurked  about  and  seemed  to  be  thinking  of  the  cabin 
and  its  inmates.  Yes,  this  Bedouin  sand-science  can 
tell  thoughts  by  tracks.  Tracks  in  the  sand  were  to 
Harrod  book,  newspaper,  telegraph  and  circulating 
library.  He  knew  the  language  of  sand.  He  knew 
several  things  that  this  man  might  be.  A  deserter 
from  the  Fort,  perhaps,  though  such  an  one  would 
have  been  likely  to  be  descried  by  the  corporal's 
guard  in  the  scouting  air-ship,  and  should  have 
slunk  inland  by  the  dense  hummocks  of  Bon  Secour. 
Or  it  might  be  some  one  connected  with  the  revenue 
service. 

This  hypothesis  should,  of  course,  have  given  the 
captain  no  uneasiness.  He  was  an  exemplary  fisher 
man,  with  boat  on  shore,  and  "tresmires"  drying  on 
their  stakes,  fishing  formally  on  fine  days  for  red- 
fish,  Spanish  mackerel  and  pompano.  His  cabin  was 
"Harrod's  fishing  camp" — nothing  more.  What  had 


MR.  WIZNER  SECURES  A  COMMAND      185 

revenue  officers  to  do  with  such  humble  piscatorial 
headquarters  as  these?  They  should  not  care  about 
Theodore's  hidden  invention,  The  air-ships  keeping 
their  lanes,  east,  west,  north  and  south  paid  no  at 
tention;  and,  if  they  were  not  interested,  why  need 
the  revenues  bother?  The  humble  establishment 
had  no  connection  with  the  world  save  through  fish 
— as  any  revenue  officer  should  have  known. 

And  yet — one  day  the  captain  rearranged  his 
drying  nets,  solicitous  as  to  their  draping;  and  soon 
a  slimy  sea-monster  stuck  a  blunt  nose  out  from 
the  water  at  about  the  five-fathom  contour  line, 
opened  a  rectangular  mouth,  and  flicked  a  square 
red  tongue  like  an  angry  snake,  until  Captain  Har- 
rod,  on  the  highest  dune,  opened  a  brilliant  red 
handkerchief  with  a  Chautauqua  salute,  and  wiped 
his  nose  elaborately.  Whereupon  the  sea-monster 
sank  beneath  the  brine,  and  no  one  but  the  por 
poises  and  sharks  might  say  where  it  went.  What 
took  place  that  night  was  concealed  by  darkness.  If 
Captain  Harrod  was  busy  carrying  packages  ashore 
until  morning,  he  came  by  them  honestly,  no  doubt. 

An  examination  of  the  popular  novels  or  periodi 
cals  of  the  past — say  of  the  era  of  that  president 
whose  Christian  name  our  Theodore  bears — will  be 
rewarded  by  a  realization  of  prophecy  gone  wrong 
as  to  the  influence  on  smuggling  of  aerial  naviga 
tion.  It  must  bring  free  trade,  they  said.  Ships 


186   VIRGINIA    OF.   THE    AIR    LANES 

navigating  the  air  could  land  their  cargoes  any 
where,  every  acre  being  a  potential  port  of  entry. 
Yet,  the  air-ships  gave  the  custom-house  people  an 
astonishingly  small  amount  of  trouble.  Air-ships 
were  so  conspicuous ;  their  loads  were  necessarily  so 
light;  the  system  of  reporting  them  by  wireless  from 
Canada,  Mexico  and  the  islands  was  so  efficient; 
the  listing  and  registry  regulations  were  so  perfect ; 
the  risk  of  loss  was  so  great;  the  perils  of  trans 
oceanic  flights  were  so  prohibitive;  and  the  coopera 
tion  between  nations  was  so  hearty  that  smuggling 
had  little  aid  from  aeronautical  success,  such  as  it 
was. 

Very  unexpectedly,  it  was  the  submarine  that 
drove  the  "revenues"  wild  and  filled  the  law-books 
with  Draconian  statutes.  No  trade  ever  grew  faster. 
The  submarines  were  shady  characters,  but  they 
had  pretensions  to  legitimate  trades — like  other 
dubious  individuals ;  and  it  was  their  business  to  be 
lost  to  sight  for  long  periods  of  time.  The  storms 
which  kept  in  harbor  the  scouts  of  the  law  offered 
the  submarines  opportunities,  and  submarine  can 
not  pursue  submarine.  The  boat-fish  dived  beneath 
the  tempest,  rose  on  some  lonely  coast  like  this  by 
appointment  with  some  Captain  Harrod  sitting  like 
a  bewhiskered  bit  of  wreckage  on  the  dunes.  Driven 
to  open  lawlessness  by  detection,  some  of  the  devil 
ish  craft  embraced  open  piracy,  restored  to  the  seas 


MR.  WIZNER  SECURES  A  COMMAND      187 

a  flavor  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  waxed  fat 
on  spoils.  Passengers  on  transatlantic  liners  learned 
to  grow  pale  at  equivocal  objects  in  the  sea,  in  ex 
pectation  of  the  submarine's  effective  "stand  and 
deliver,"  backed  by  torpedoes  in  place  of  the  time- 
honored  pistol.  Maintaining  relations  with  slimy 
sea-monsters  was  a  fairly  safe  and  lucrative  diver 
sion  ;  but  a  mighty  ticklish  thing  to  be  found  out  in. 
Hence,  perhaps,  Captain  Harrod's  profound  inter 
est  in  tracks,  his  nervousness  at  the  rustling  of  the 
red-brown  jorees  under  the  scrub.  Their  whistles, 
too,  sounded  startlingly  like  human  signals.  He 
searched  the  thickets,  in  such  cases,  until  he  found 
his  feathered  friend,  or  established  the  absence  of 
enemy. 

It  was  thus  that  he  found  Mr.  Wizner.  The  sea- 
monster's  visit  had  occurred  the  day  before,  and  the 
captain  had  slept  late,  and  was  taking  a  morning's 
stroll  to  see  that  rain  and  wind  had  quite  obliterated 
all  traces  of  a  landing  he  knew  of.  Just  over  the 
first  hillock  he  heard  one  of  those  startling,  human- 
sounding  rustlings  in  the  leaves,  with  no  joree  whis 
tle  to  explain  it.  Captain  Harrod  began  peering  into 
the  thicket,  with  a  stricture  gripping  his  throat. 

There  was  a  dense  growth  of  the  rheumatic  little 
old  oaks  on  the  inshore  side  of  the  hill,  casting  a 
deep  shade;  and  in  the  damp  hollow  a  thick  clump 
of  palmettoes — an  ideal  spot  for  a  hiding-place.  A 


i88    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

joree  flicked  out  of  the  deepest  shadow,  perched  for 
a  moment  on  the  rosemary  and  gave  that  mellow, 
human-sounding  whistle.  Relieved,  the  captain 
stepped  boldly  forward  and  trod  on  Mr.  Wizner's 
head  as  he  slept  with  mosquito-bar  over  his  face,  in 
a  comfortable  sleeping-bag.  The  inventor  struggled 
forth  with  a  wild  yell,  and  began  running.  Captain 
Harrod,  another  Old  Man  of  the  Sea,  leaped  upon 
his  back,  bore  him  to  the  ground,  and  sat  on  him, 
panting.  Wizner  looked  up  at  him  in  abject  terror. 

"Oh,  it's  you,  is  it!"  cried  he.  "I  know  you!  I 
know  you !" 

Captain  Harrod  was  puzzled,  but  relieved,  to  note 
that  the  man  did  not  act  like  an  officer.  In  making 
the  arrest,  the  captain  had  acted  on  impulse  and  was 
glad  that  he  had  caught  no  revenue.  The  man  was 
quite  as  clearly  not  a  deserter.  His  whine,  his  roll 
ing  eyes,  his  scraps  of  nonsense,  all  aroused  doubts 
as  to  his  sanity. 

"You're  one  of  'em !"  groaned  Wizner,  pounding 
his  head  on  the  sand.  "Let  me  up!  You  and 
Shayne  and  Silberberg  and  the  girl — all  linked  in 
together  to  rob  me  of  my  helicopter !  You've  got  it 
hid  there !  You've  ruined  me !  Kill  me  if  you  want 
to !  Let  me  up !" 

Captain  Harrod  slowly  released  him,  and  both 
rose,  facing  each  other. 


MR.  WIZNER  SECURES  A  COMMAND      189 

"Ah'm  raght  sorry,  suh,"  said  the  captain,  "that 
Ah  trod  on  yo*  haid.  Ah  didn't  see  you,  suh." 

Wizner  approached  the  captain,  took  him  by  the 
shirt,  looked  about  cunningly,  and  whispered  in  his 
ear. 

"Tell  me  where  my  helicopter  is!"  said  he 
wheedlingly.  "It'll  be  all  right,  if  you  do !  And  I'll 
make  you  rich !" 

"Oh,"  said  the  fisherman.  "Yo*  the  flyin'-machine 
man,  sho'.  Aftah  the  young  lady  tumbled  out  when 
we  hauled  in  on  the  painter,  it  fetched  adrift  an' 
went  out  to  sea,  you  know,  suh  ?" 

"I  put  every  cent  I  had  into  it,"  said  Wizner.  "It 
was  worth  a  million.  Give  it  to  me !" 

This  argument  lasted  days  and  weeks ;  for  Wizner 
saw  that  the  fisherman's  hospitality  would  not  per 
mit  the  driving  away  of  a  poor  wrecked  being,  such 
as  he  seemed  to  be.  So  the  sleeping-bag  was  placed 
on  the  veranda,  and  Wizner  whined  and  glared ;  and 
whenever  detected  in  an  attempt  to  enter  the  shed, 
he  had  the  severest  sort  of  paroxysm,  demanded  his 
helicopter  back,  raved  at  Shayne,  and  refused  to  eat 
for  fear  of  being  poisoned. 

Such  was  the  state  of  things  when  Carson  left 
Virginia  Suarez,  the  girl  who,  after  their  first  curi 
ous  meeting,  had  come  to  him,  not  knowing  who  he 
was,  save  that  she  believed  him  to  be  her  sole  mal« 


190    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

relative,  and  whom  he  had  weakly  allowed  to  re 
main,  believing  herself  his  niece.  He  was  needed 
at  the  camp.  It  was  impossible  longer  to  refrain 
from  violating  the  supposed  relationship,  so  he  ap 
peared  at  the  cabin  one  day,  white  and  determined- 
looking,  reread  a  pocketful  of  letters  and  telegrams, 
and  said  with  no  salutation : 

"Where  are  those  engines?" 

"In  the  shed,  suh,"  replied  the  captain.  "Ah  done 
unpacked  'em,  suh." 

Carson  unlocked  and  opened  the  door  from  the 
cabin  to  the  shed,  let  in  light  through  a  hatch  in 
the  roof,  and  for  two  hours  studied  the  engines,  his 
eyes  lighting  from  time  to  time  with  a  serious  half- 
smile.  Four  powerful  motors,  they  were,  each  of 
fifty  horse-power,  with  eight  cylinders,  and  so 
light  that  he  picked  them  up  with  ease.  Down  the 
long  shed  a  huge  thing,  like  a  great  dragon-fly,  lay 
in  its  cradle,  with  cheap  launch-motors  for  experi 
mental  purposes  in  the  engine  pit.  Theodore  called 
to  the  captain  to  tear  them  out.  Once  more  on  the 
veranda,  he  noted  the  sleeping-bag  stretched  from 
column  to  column. 

"What's  this?"  he  asked. 

"That's  what  the  crazy  man  sleeps  in,"  replied 
the  captain. 

Carson  examined  it  with  care,  looked  at  the  pneu 
matic  mattress,  saw  the  completeness  and  good 


MR.  WIZNER  SECURES  A  COMMAND      191 

condition  of  the  outfit,  and  turned  grimmer  of  face 
than  ever. 

"Who  turned  it  inside  out  to  air  it?"  he  queried. 

"He  did,  suh." 

"Did  he  ever  do  that  before?" 

"Allus  does  it,  suh." 

"What's  this?"  asked  Theodore,  picking  some 
thing  up. 

"Thing  he  lays  ove*  his  face,  suh,  to  fend  off  the 
sand-flies.  Had  it  ove'  him  when  Ah  done  found 
him." 

"Where  was  that?"  asked  Carson. 

The  captain  explained  the  discovery  of  Wizner, 
and  the  preceding  mystery  of  his  tracks. 

"When  did  you  first  see  the  tracks?"  asked  Car 
son. 

"Raght  soon  afte'  you  went  no'th,  suh,"  answered 
the  captain. 

"Kept  out  of  sight,  and  made  no  outcry  about  the 
helicopter,  until  you  kicked  him  out  of  the  palmet- 
toes?"  went  on  Carson. 

"Yes,  suh,"  replied  the  witness. 

"Always  careful  to  protect  his  face  when  he 
sleeps?" 

"Yes,  suh." 

"Good  appetite?" 

"Yes,  suh,  he  sho'  has." 

"Tries  to  get  into  the  shed  with  the  aeronef  ?" 


192    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

"All  the  tahm,  suh,"  replied  the  captain.  "But 
when  he  got  the  plank  off,  he  said  the  devils  done 
druv  him  out  with  hot  fohks,  suh,  so  he  didn't  go 
in." 

Carson  laughed  unsympathetically. 

"Where  is  this  systematic  lunatic?"  he  inquired. 

"That's  him  a-comin'  ove'  the  ridge,  thah,"  re 
plied  the  captain.  "He  spends  a  heap  o'  tahm  look- 
in'  afte'  his  lost  chickananny." 

Mumbling  to  himself,  and  shaking  his  fists  at  va 
cancy,  Wizner  approached;  but  the  start,  showing 
guilt  and  embarrassment,  which  he  gave  on  seeing 
Carson,  violated  all  the  conventions  of  lunacy. 
Theodore  studied  him  with  narrowed  eyes,  as  he 
began  making  passes  in  the  air,  as  if  in  the  ex 
orcism  of  evil  spirits,  or  carrying  out  a  physical- 
culture  system. 

"Another  one !"  he  moaned.  "All  the  devils'll  be 
here  soon — and  then — and  then — Ha,  ha,  ha !" 

"Stop  that!" 

For  some  reason  the  young  man  was  furious 
where  the  captain  had  been  pitiful. 

"Take  this  stuff  of  yours,"  said  Carson,  "and  get 
out  of  this!  Understand?" 

Wizner  took  down  the  sleeping-bag,  lashed  it  up 
with  the  deflated  mattress,  and  threw  it  down,  roll 
ing  his  eyes,  and  opening  and  shutting  his  hands. 

"You're  all  linked  in  together !"  he  wailed,  sitting 


MR.  WIZNER  SECURES  A  COMMAND      193 

on  a  bench,  and  feebly  pounding  his  head  against 
the  column.  "You're  the  head  devil!  You  pulled 
her  down  by  the  painter.  You  stole  her!  Give  me 
my  million  or  give  her  back — " 

Carson  took  him  by  the  throat,  choked  him  pur 
ple,  and  banged  his  head  against  the  post  until  the 
whining  became  an  outcry  of  real  pain. 

"Like  cures  like,"  said  Carson.  "And  pounding 
cures  pounding!  Clear  out,  now!" 

Wizner  moved  away  slowly,  but  turned  at  a  safe 
distance,  his  eyes  blazing. 

"I'll  fix  you,  you  young  fool!"  he  snarled.  "You 
think  you're  an  engineer!  I'll  show  you!" 

"Go !"  said  Carson.  "Before  I  fix  you  so  you  can't 
— you  snake!" 

Captain  Harrod  stood  transfixed  at  this  terrible 
breach  of  hospitality  on  Mr.  Theodore's  part,  puz 
zled  by  Mr.  Wizner's  sudden  sanity  as  he  paused  be 
tween  the  dunes,  ankle-deep  in  sand,  and  addressed 
Carson. 

"I'll  fix  you,  good  and  plenty,"  he  said.  "No  man 
can  choke  and  pound  me  and  live!" 

For  the  first  time,  Carson's  face  relaxed  into  a 
real  smile. 

"It's  been  a  great  thing  for  you,"  he  flung  at  the 
man  in  the  sand.  "See  how  clear  your  mind  is !" 

"And  you'll  never  get  that  mechanical  devil's 
darning-needle  of  yours  to  fly,"  went  on  Wizner. 


194    VIRGINIA    OF   THE    AIR    LANES 

"It'll  turn  turtle  in  the  first  puff.  And  if  it  does 
fly,  you'll  have  competition.  You  sliver-built  son 
of  a—" 

Carson  leaped  from  the  veranda;  but  Captain 
Harrod  was  between  them.  . 

"Don't  kill  him,  suh!"  he  exclaimed.  "He  may 
not  be  quaht  raght  yit." 

"You  old  fool !"  sneered  Wizner.  "You  damned 
old  smuggling  fool !  You'll  get  yours,  too !" 

He  disappeared  over  the  hillock,  as  a  great  revul 
sion  of  feeling  passed  through  the  old  man's  being. 
He  felt  wronged :  Wizner  suddenly  became  an 
enemy,  capable  of  infinite  harm. 

"Miste'  Theodo',"  said  he,  in  low,  slow  tones,  "Ah 
have  jist  altogethe'  done  lost  confidence  in  that 
man !  He's  sho'  not  straight,  Mr.  Theodo' !"  t 

Carson  had  not  heard,  or  had  not  comprehended 
Wizner's  allusion  to  smuggling.  In  a  belated  frenzy 
of  resolution,  energized  like  a  fully-charged  battery, 
he  donned  his  working  clothes,  and  began  the  in 
stallation  of  the  new  engines  which  were  to  make 
good  his  promises  to  himself,  to  Craighead  and 
Waddy,  and  to  a  world  which  had  long  awaited  the 
command  of  the  air — or  to  add  the  name  of  Theo 
dore  Carson  to  the  list  headed  by  Daedalus  and  Son, 
and  in  which  the  tragic  end  of  Lieutenant  Selfridge 
was  less  known  than  the  comic  mishaps  of  Darius 
^Green.  It  was  a  crisis — for  Theodore,  for  Craig- 


MR.  WIZNER  SECURES  A  COMMAND      195 

head  and  Waddy — and  for  the  world.    Love!    A 
mere  illusion! 

Wizner  walked  toward  Fort  Morgan,  his  teeth 
set,  his  fists  striking  vicious  blows  at  nothing,  nearer 
insane  than  he  had  ever  been  before.  He  hated 
Carson  most  violently,  now,  instead  of  sourly  and 
inactively  as  before.  His  inventive  genius  was  genu 
ine  and  respectable,  but  he  was  insanely  jealous,  re 
fusing  to  admit  the  correctness  of  any  one  else's 
ideas  as  to  anything  pertaining  to  aviation — and 
yet,  the  great  dragon-fly  in  the  shed  had  impressed 
him.  It  was  so  workmanlike,  so  trim — so  poised; 
and  the  great  wing  surfaces  beating  the  air  in  sec 
tions,  while  the  wing  itself  was  stationary,  were 
eloquent  of  power  in  lifting  and  driving.  He  was 
impressed  and  immensely  depressed.  He  had  been1 
so  sanguine  of  his  helicopter,  so  ambitious,  with 
Shayne's  money,  to  build  another  and  better  one,  and 
conquer  fortune;  and  to  have  this  young  sprout,  with 
his  logarithms  and  his  "new  knowledge"  rob  him 
of  Shayne's  attention  and  Shayne's  money!  If  the 
fool  girl  had  only  not  whisked  herself  into  the  air, 
and  all  but  into  eternity,  and  fallen  two  thousand 
feet  into  this  young  devil's  arms!  And,  then,  who 
had  butted  in,  got  Shayne  away  from  him,  gone 
north  in  the  same  air-ship  with  him,  had  all  the 
chances  in  the  world  to  hypnotize  him,  and  was  now 
back,  with  money  for  the  engines  that  had  been  for 


196    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

long  months  waiting  to  be  paid  for,  the  cock  of  the 
walk,  choking  and  pounding  the  head  of  a  better 
man  and  a  better  engineer?  Carson — the  young 
hound,  with  Shayne's  money,  with  Shayne's  influ 
ence — stolen  from  him!  He  would  fix  this  fellow, 
good  and  plenty !  He  would  stamp  his  face  into  the 
ground!  He  would  crush  his  white  teeth  out  and 
send  them  down  his  throat  He  would  kill  him,  in 
some  slow,  horrible  way,  if  he  waited  until  he  was 
a  hundred  years  old.  Wizner's  burning  heat  was 
so  much  more  mental  than  physical  that  he  scarcely 
felt  the  cool  breeze  that  rolled  in  the  vast  volumes 
of  lashing  white  water,  and  piled  huge  drifts  of  dry 
foam  on  the  white  beach.  He  plodded  along  un- 
weariedly,  making  toward  the  crossing  to  the  la 
goon.  Once  in  a  while  he  gazed  off  to  the  north 
from  a  dune-top,  saw  that  he  had  not  yet  passed 
the  Hinterland  of  marsh  and  alligator-wallow,  and 
walked  on,  the  roar  of  the  ocean  in  his  ears,  and  the 
growl  and  snarl  of  vengeance  in  his  brain. 

Seated  on  a  log  he  looked  over  his  drawings  of 
Carson's  air-ship.  He  could  understand  the  method 
of  making  so  much  wing-surface  rotary,  and  the 
abandonment  of  the  screw  principle  for  that  of  the 
old  feathering  wheel;  he  understood  how  the  clus 
tered  gearings  along  the  dragon-fly's  back  could 
set  these  beating  paddles  at  any  angle  or  hold  them 
firm  for  gliding,  or  make  them  strike  down,  forward, 


MR.  WIZNER  SECURES  A  COMMAND     197 

or  backward.  These  things  meant  perfect  control — 
save  in  one  thing:  how  could  so  great  a  craft  be 
kept  from  overturning?  It  was  too  big  to  be  bal 
anced  by  feeling,  like  a  bicycle  or  the  Wright  ma 
chines.  It  would  turn  turtle;  he  would  bet  on  that. 

"I'd  give  a  hundred  dollars  to  see  it,"  snarled 
Wizner.  "To  see  him  fall  out  of  the  fool  thing, 
breaking  his  bones.  And  before  he  croaked,  to  stamp 
in  his  mouth,  and  feel  his  teeth  go !  Damn  him !" 

But  that  mysterious  glass  globe  in  the  center  of 
the  craft,  with  so  many  little  gyroscopes  beautifully 
mounted  to  run  in  vacua?  This  was  the  mystery  to 
Wizner.  It  looked  like  a  round,  compact,  clear 
brain.  And  yet,  those  eight  gyroscopes — set  in 
pairs,  like  the  right  and  left  halves  of  the  brain, 
were  too  light  to  hold  the  great  aeronef  stable  in  the 
air. 

"If  they  were  heavy  enough  to  balance  her,  she 
couldn't  lift  the  weight.  What  are  they  for? 
There's  deviltry  in  that  glass  globe.  I  wish  I'd 
smashed  it !" 

He  struck  off  north,  now,  among  the  little  ancient 
oaks,  the  rosemary,  and  the  bastard-spruce.  His 
trail  ran  to  the  left  of  a  black  pool,  wimpled  by  tad 
poles,  as  by  falling  rain ;  but  fate  turned  him  to  the 
right,  past  a  clump  of  palmettoes,  the  tall  huckle 
berry-bushes  lashing  him  with  fragrant  bloom.  He 
stooped  to  pass  under  them,  paused,  and  let  the 


198    VIRGINIA    OF.   THE    AIR    LANES 

boughs  return  without  a  rustle  to  their  position. 
Under  the  bushes  lay  the  light,  portable,  telescope 
go-devil  of  a  submarine;  and  under  it  a  man. 

Wizner  smiled,  and  started  forward;  paused;  re 
treated  out  of  sight,  and  stood  as  if  working  out 
some  abstruse  problem;  flushed  as  if  revivified  by 
wine;  hurried  away  to  the  lagoon;  drew  a  boat 
from  concealment;  and  rowed  rapidly  over  to  a 
hotel,  half  a  mile  off  on  the  north  shore. 

The  submarine's  boat  had  come  ashore  in  the 
night,  and  her  crew  were  awaiting,  with  many 
curses,  no  doubt,  a  sea  in  which  they  could  reembark. 
The  one  man  was  sleeping  away  the  absence  of  his 
mate.  But  why  was  this  of  interest  to  Wizner?  Un 
less  he  were  a  revenue  spy,  they  were  apt  to  be  peo 
ple  of  whom  it  was  better  to  know  little  than  much. 

At  the  desk  of  the  hotel  Wizner  got  paper,  en 
velopes  and  a  bit  of  copying  carbon,  sat  down,  wrote 
a  letter,  and  addressed  it  to  himself,  in  care  of  the 
chief  of  police  of  Mobile,  to  be  turned  over  to  the 
collector  of  the  port,  and  by  him  opened  if  not 
called  for  by  a  certain  date.  He  carefully  copied  the 
address  of  the  original  upon  the  envelop  of  the 
carbon  copy,  took  them  both  to  the  clerk,  handed 
him  a  fine  cigar,  and  asked  him  as  a  favor  to  cer 
tify  on  the  back  of  the  copy  that  he,  the  clerk,  had 
personally  placed  in  the  mail  the  original,  addressed 
precisely  as  was  the  copy. 


MR.  WIZNER  SECURES  A  COMMAND     199 

"Don't  know  what  your  game  is,  old  man,"  said 
the  clerk,  "but  I  hope  you  get  away  with  it  all 
right" 

Mr.  Wizner  rowed  straight  back,  and  made  his 
way  to  the  boat  under  the  bushes.  The  man  was  sit 
ting  up,  now,  smoking.  Wizner  walked  into  camp 
jauntily. 

"Hello,  Faville,"  said  he;  "ain't  you  pretty  near 
lost?" 

Faville  started  and  dropped  his  hand  to  his  hip; 
but  changed  his  attitude  and  shook  hands  cordially. 

"No,"  said  he,  "but  you  are,  I  should  think. 
Where'd  you  drop  from?" 

"You're  ashore  at  a  bad  time,"  said  Wizner. 
"Where's  the  Stickleback?" 

"Oh,"  replied  Faville,  "I'm  not  on  her  any 
longer." 

"Funny  you  brought  away  her  boat!"  said  Wiz 
ner.  "And  her  captain,  too !" 

This  latter  remark  was  evoked  by  the  arrival  of 
a  third  person,  wiry,  smooth-shaven,  with  a  dark 
face,  a  dead-black  eye,  a  straight  line  of  mouth, 
three  fingers  missing  from  his  right  hand,  giving 
the  impression  that  he  was  perpetually  pointing  at 
something,  and  thin,  palpitant  nostrils,  like  those  of 
a  trapped  rabbit.  He  came  lazily  in,  and  dropped 
to  the  ground. 

"Hello,  Wizner,"  said  he. 


200   VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

"Hello,  Captain  Reagan,"  replied  Wizner.  "Can 
you  give  me  a  snack  ?" 

"Sure,"  said  Reagan.  "Let's  eat,  Faville;  I've  got 
a  grobeck  for  dinner." 

The  "grobeck"  was  a  big,  toothsome  bird,  like  a 
bittern,  in  appearance.  While  the  meal  was  cooking 
Wizner  sat  joking,  like  a  man  enjoying  himself, 
while  the  others  grew  more  and  more  taciturn.  A 
couple  of  bottles  of  excellent  wine  washed  down 
the  meal,  and  the  men  sat  looking  at  one  another 
and  smoking,  in  an  atmosphere  tense  with  misun 
derstanding. 

"Which  way  you  going,  Wizner?"  finally  asked 
Reagan. 

"I  thought  I'd  go  aboard  the  Stickleback,"  re 
plied  Wizner. 

"The  hell  you  did !"  replied  Reagan,  with  an  easy 
laugh.  "Well,  you've  got  another  guess !" 

"You  think  Faville  can  handle  the  engineer's 
berth  ?"  queried  Wizner,  with  a  covert  sneer. 

"The  surf  don't  roar  like  it  did,"  said  Reagan. 
"The  wind's  off  shore.  It's  quieting  down.  Stick  up 
that  signal,  Faville." 

Faville  departed  and  Reagan,  sitting  up,  spoke 
in  the  manner  of  one  who  scents  a  conflict. 

"Whatever  it  is,  Wizner,"  said  he,  "out  with  it. 
I'm  not  safe  to  fool  with." 

"I  want  the  Stickleback  for  a  while,"  said  Wizner. 


MR.  WIZNER  SECURES  A  COMMAND     201 

"What  for?"  asked  Reagan. 

"To  stand  off  and  on,  do  as  I  say,  ask  no  ques 
tions,  and  to  tell  no  tales." 

Feeling  mystery  in  this  demand,  Reagan  con 
trolled  his  temper,  and  let  the  case  develop. 

"And  if  this  modest  request  is  refused?"  he 
queried. 

"Why,"  said  Wizner  slowly,  "I  may  let  the  au 
thorities  know  that  instead  of  salving  mahogany, 
the  Stickleback  is  prowling  around  off  Harrod's." 

Reagan  lay  gently  back,  this  time  on  one  arm. 
The  other  hand  slid  slowly  to  his  hip  pocket.  He 
was  the  picture  of  slothful  ease. 

"Well,"  he  said  slowly,  "that  might  interest  them, 
but  what  is  there  in  it?" 

"Not  much,  maybe,"  said  Wizner.  "But  I'm  a 
law-abiding  citizen,  and  I  feel  I  ought  to  tell." 

"You  infernal  fool !"  said  Reagan,  speaking  over 
a  short,  flat,  automatic  pistol.  "You'll  stay  here  till 
the  hogs  root  you  out !" 

Wizner  turned  pale,  and  reached  for  the  letter; 
Reagan's  voice  stopped  him. 

"Hands  up !"  said  he.  "I  hate  like  hell  to  kill  you; 
but  I'll  just  give  you  time  to  pray !" 

Wizner,  his  hands  in  air,  and  trembling  like  a 
reed,  played  out  his  hand. 

"There's  a  letter  in  my  pocket,"  said  he.  "Read 
it ;  and  you  won't  shoot." 


202    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

Faville,  returning,  saw  and  understood  the 
tableau — Reagan  on  his  feet  covering  Wizner,  the 
inventor  belligerent,  but  shaking. 

"Take  the  letter  from  the  cur's  pocket,"  said 
Reagan.  "Cover  him  while  I  look  at  it — and  pick 
out  his  grave !" 

"Don't  spoil  the  certificate!"  said  Wizner.  "Cut 
it!" 

Reagan,  after  reading  the  endorsements  inform 
ing  him  that  if  Wizner  failed  to  claim  the  letter 
mailed  it  would  go  to  the  collector,  read  the  letter 
itself.  It  was  a  succinct  accusation  of  smuggling, 
with  the  names  and  addresses  of  two  witnesses — im 
aginary — who  could  point  out  the  contraband  goods 
and  testify  to  the  facts,  with  Wizner's  identifica 
tion  of  the  Stickleback's  crew  as  the  criminals  to 
which  the  witnesses  named  would  swear  if  con 
fronted  with  J.  J.  Reagan,  captain,  and  T.  W.  Fa 
ville,  chief  engineer.  The  witnesses,  the  letter  con 
cluded,  had  not  been  informed  of  the  identity  of 
Faville  and  Reagan. 

Reagan  tossed  the  letter  to  Faville. 

"You  get  in  on  this,"  said  he.  "Put  down  your 
gun!" 

"No,  no!"  crowed  Wizner,  "I  won't  run!" 

"Don't  be  too  cocky,"  said  Reagan,  "or  I'll  take 
chances  on  a  shot  at  you !  D'ye  hear?" 


MR.  WIZNER  SECURES  A  COMMAND     203 

"Seems  to  hold  high  cards,"  said  Faville.  "But  if 
you  say  so,  I'll — " 

"How  do  we  know,"  said  Reagan,  "that  you  won't 
peach  after  you  get  through  with  us  ?" 

"If  I  make  the  play  I  expect  to,"  replied  Wizner, 
"I'll  be  in  a  damned  sight  deeper'n  you  are !" 

"That  means,"  said  Reagan,  "worse  than  smug- 
gHng." 

"I  mean,"  said  Wizner,  "the  only  thing  the  law 
punishes  worse  than  smuggling  with  a  submarine — 
by !" 

"I  didn't  expect,"  said  Reagan,  "I'd  ever  go  that 
far;  but  I  guess  I'll  have  to  serve  under  you,  Wiz 
ner.  You're  captain  of  the  Stickleback!" 


CHAPTER  X 

AN    OVER-SUCCESSFUL    EMBASSY 

VIRGINIA,  left  alone,  was  rather  glad  of 
it.  Her  desertion  of  the  Shaynes  was  a 
crisis  in  her  life.  She  had  acted  impulsively 
in  a  matter  of  great  moment  and  needed  time  for 
thought.  She  had  taken  flight  to  Carson's  Landing 
and  to  shelter  in  the  shade  of  the  sole  remaining 
branch  of  her  family  tree,  full  of  confidence  that  she 
would  find  there  a  silver-haired  uncle  and  a  delicate 
old  lavender  aunt,  redolent  of  the  old  regime  and 
ready  to  receive  her,  tenderly  loyal  to  the  Carson 
blood. 

Instead  of  silver  hair,  Theodore,  the  audaciously 
false  uncle,  had  red  lips  and  the  "little,  silky,  kid's 
mustache,"  and  there  was  no  aunt.  The  grand- 
niece  of  old  General  Carson,  related  to  Theodore 
Carson,  by  no  chain  of  descent,  save  the  dubious  one 
of  the  original  third  Carson  brother  of  hundreds  of 
years  ago  and  the  ownership  of  this  plantation,  was 
weakly  allowed  to  assume  kinship  from  the  place 
and  name,  and  never  thought  of  sitting  down  with 

204 


AN   OVER-SUCCESSFUL  EMBASSY     205 

Theodore  and  tracing  the  thing  out.  Her  flight,  her 
astonishment  at  finding  her  rescuer,  the  supposed 
smuggler,  as  the  head  of  her  family,  her  guardian 
and  protector,  his  disturbing  influence  over  her 
mental  faculties,  their  uninterrupted  series  of  excur 
sions  by  field  and  flood,  the  feeling  of  uncertainty— 
not  to  say  apprehension — which  their  relations  had 
begun  to  produce  in  her,  all  these  made  her  glad  of 
a  day  or  so  to  herself.  She  wanted  the  current  cut 
off  so  that  she  might  become  demagnetized. 

Of  course,  she  said,  it  was  absurd  of  him  to  run 
away  just  after  he  had  held  her  a  little  tighter  than 
was  necessary  in  picking  her  up — that  was  crude, 
and  made  the  situation  worse.  She  wondered  just 
what  the  relationship  was,  anyhow.  Chloe  said 
that  Cahsonses  were  Cahsonses,  and  she  never  both 
ered  about  different  kinds.  He  couldn't  be  a  real 
uncle,  Virginia  felt  sure  of  that.  He  might  be  a 
son  of  General  Carson  by  a  second  wife.  He  was 
the  head  of  the  family,  anyhow ;  she  must  be  satis 
fied  with  that.  If  he  would  only  quit  looking  Sap 
phic  odes  and  prowling  about  of  nights — and  oh, 
heavens !  if  he  would  only  come  back  and  make  her 
happy  again! 

Of  his  invention,  save  that  it  was  in  the  mysteri 
ous  shed,  chosen  because  of  its  remoteness  and  its 
unobstructed  beach,  she  really  knew  nothing.  She 
began  to  wonder,  now,  whether  he  was  a  world's 


206    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

genius,  or  only  the  crude  product  of  a  country 
college,  with  nothing  to  command  a  second  glance 
except  his  sinewy  erectness,  the  pathetic  yearning 
in  his  eyes,  and  the  wonderful  softness  in  his  voice. 
She  was  enacting  vaudeville  skits,  too.  Oh,  the  dra 
matic  uplift  was  active,  down  at  Carson's  Landing! 

The  devil  was  there,  as  usual,  and  helped  the 
thing  along.  Virginia  stood  on  a  stool  to  reach  the 
Dolly  Dialogues,  and  Sathanas  guided  her  ringers 
to  Doctor  Pascal,  which  he  had  had  bound  to  match 
Anthony  Hope's  delicious  piece  of  foolery.  Like 
Eve,  she  bit;  and  Mrs.  Stott  found  her  deep  in  the 
love  of  Clotilde  and  her  uncle — the  sole  specimen 
of  the  sort  in  literature,  so  far  as  I  can  remember. 
This  particular  book,  to  be  read  by  this  particular 
girl,  on  this  particular  day  of  all  days! 

"A  great  story  of  a  great  passion,"  said  Mrs. 
Stott. 

"Is  it?"  asked  Virginia  the  Uncandid.  "Zola  is 
sp  uninteresting — I  just  happened  to  pick  it  up,  you 
know." 

"They  were  uncle  and  niece,"  said  Mrs.  Stott. 

Virginia  flicked  the  corners  with  her  thumb,  mak 
ing  a  sound  like  a  fly  in  a  web. 

"Shocking!"  said  she.  "I  didn't  think  the  law 
allowed  such — alliances." 

"Love,"  said  Mrs.  Stott,  "is  very  different  from 
marriage— in  France.  Have  you  read  where  Pas- 


AN   OVER-SUCCESSFUL  EMBASSY     207 

cal  finds  Clotilde  burning  his  papers — in  the  night 
— so  lightly  clothed?  Or  where  she  proposes?" 

"It's  an  unpleasant  topic,"  said  Virginia. 

"Very!"  assented  Mrs.  Stott.  "It  is  growing 
warm;  you  are  quite  flushed." 

"But  what  is  the  law?"  asked  Virginia  finally. 

"I'm  sure  I  don't  know,"  answered  Mrs.  Stott. 

"Being  a  question,"  said  Virginia,  "that  can 
never  arise,  the  law  wouldn't  cover  it." 

"Zola,"  replied  Mrs.  Stott,  "would  not  have  used 
an  impossible  case.  To  be  siire,  he  put  Clotilde 
and  Pascal  into  constant  and  intimate  contact, 
and—" 

"Oh,  it's  quite  unthinkable !"  said  Virginia.  "Pas 
cal  was  old;  and — and  she'd  always  known  him  as 
her  uncle." 

"Such  circumstances,"  assented  Mrs.  Stott,  "make 
all  the  difference  in  the  world." 

When  the  absorbed  Virginia  saw  the  force  of  this 
rerriark,  she  almost  snapped  at  her  companion. 

"Not  at  all !"  said  she.  "Not  the  least  difference 
in  the  world." 

Resorting  to  Tennyson,  she  found  the  lines : 

"Set  the  maiden  fancies  wallowing  in  the  troughs  of 

Zolaism, — 

Forward,  forward,  ay  and  backward,  downward 
too  into  the  abysm," 


208    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

threw  the  book  away,  and  went  down  to  watch  for 
boats — especially  for  a  remarkably  fast  motor 
launch,  which  had  cleared  from  Week's  Bay  up 
river  recently,  laden  with  magnolia  blossoms,  youth, 
and  palpitations  of  the  heart.  It  was  a  long  time 
coming,  so  Virginia  took  up  Penelope's  occupation. 
She  wove  a  web  of  fancies  every  night  and  raveled 
them  out  next  morning. 

One  day  her  heart  fluttered  when  Chloe  an 
nounced  a  man  to  see  her;  for  it  must  mean  an 
emissary  from  the  Shaynes  or  from  Uncle  Theo 
dore,  she  thought.  It  was,  in  fact,  Captain  Harrod, 
unchanged,  save  that  he  wore  boots.  The  captain 
thought  her  charming;  and,  as  she  shook  his  hand, 
her  voice  seemed  mysteriously  vibrant. 

"Mistah  Theodo,"  said  he,  "reckoned  Ah'd  bettah 
stop  by  an*  ask  how  you-all  is,  an'  tell  you-all  we-all 
ah  tollable  well,  an'  gettin'  the  machine  raght  neah 
ready  to  la'nch,  ma'am." 

"Thank  you,"  replied  Miss  Suarez.    "Is  that  all  ?" 

Captain  Harrod  felt  himself  in  an  equivocal  posi 
tion.  It  really  was  all  his  message,  but  it  seemed 
too  bald  and  Spartan  for  real  courtesy. 

"He  says,"  extemporized  the  ancient  mariner, 
"they's  maghty  little  to  see  thah ;  but  we'd  be  raght 
pleased,  ma'am,  if  you-all  could  pass  thataway  an' 
stop  by." 

"We'd  be  in  the  way,"  said  Virginia  gratefully. 


AN  OVER-SUCCESSFUL  EMBASSY    209 

"Oh,  no,"  the  captain  assured  her.  "Not  at  all; 
but  it  maght  be  onconvenient  for  you,  ma'am." 

"I  found  life  quite — quite  giddy  there  1"  said 
she. 

The  captain  did  not  allow  himself  the  luxury  of 
a  smile.  He  consented  to  stay  to  luncheon,  during 
which  meal  he  described  the  aeronef  with  an  ap 
proximation  to  enthusiasm. 

"If  she  flies,"  said  he,  "an*  Mistah  Theodo'  allows 
she  sho'  will,  she'll  mek  the  long-toms  an'  skaoucks 
think  they's  a  new  breed  o'  hawks  loose." 

"Uncle  Theodore,"  suggested  Virginia  to  Mrs. 
Stott,  after  learning  about  long-toms  and  skaoucks, 
"has  invited  us  to  visit  him.  And,  do  you  know,  I 
think  we'll  go  back  with  the  captain,  if  you  can  over 
come  your  aversion  to  the  water." 

"Will  the  bay  be  rough?"  asked  Mrs.  Stott,  as  if 
confident  that  the  captain  served  out  the  weather. 

"Dead  ca'm,  ma'am,"  said  the  captain.  "Flat  as 
a  flounder." 

"And  think,"  went  on  Virginia,  "how  interesting 
it  will  be  to  see  the  first  great  aeronef  launched! 
Please,  please,  let's  go!" 

"When  do  you  start?"  asked  Mrs.  Stott,  wavering. 

"Ea'ly  this  evenin',"  replied  the  captain. 

"We'll  go!"  said  Mrs.  Stott. 

The  captain,  considering  all  that  part  of  the 
day  between  the  midday  meal  and  nightfall  as 


210   VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

"evening,"  and  after  dark  as  night,  had  to  make  this 
distinction  clear  to  the  ladies,  who,  when  they  un 
derstood  it,  hurriedly  packed  their  dunnage,  and 
embarked.  They  were  a  gay  party;  Virginia  was 
full  of  lighter;  her  color  rose  and  her  eyes  dilated 
as  they  took  the  stream  early  enough,  to  the  cap 
tain's  relief,  to  let  them  through  the  New  Canal, 
from  Strong's  Bayou  to  the  Lagoon  by  daylight; 
for  there  were  ghosts  in  this  region  by  night. 

"Do  you  see  any  signs  of  a  storm?"  asked  Mrs. 
Stott,  noting  his  upward  glances. 

"No,  ma'am,"  he  returned.  "Ah  was  just  tryin' 
to  make  out  if  Ah'd  eve'  seen  that  craft  befo'  aloft 
thah." 

The  craft  alluded  to  was  a  great  silver  Condor, 
gleaming  in  the  sun,  her  rudder  a  dark  line  across 
her  bow,  anc}  along  her  side  the  stripe  of  a  narrow 
aeroplane. 

Virginia  studied  her  absorbedly  with  her  field- 
glasses.  She  was  standing  over  from  Mobile,  and 
was  now  above  Montrose,  sailing  low  as  if  for  a 
short  vpyage. 

"I  think,"  said  Virginia,  "that  she's  the  Roc. 
I'm  pure  of  it!" 

"Yes,  ma'am,"  replied  Harrod;  and  not  another 
word  was  said,  until  the  captain  saw  the  air-ship 
librating,  sinking,  balancing  like  a  hawk,  far  to  the 
eastward. 


AN   OVER-SUCCESSFUL   EMBASSY     211 

"She's  lyin'  to,"  said  the  captain.  "Thah  goes 
huh  lift  down." 

"Why,"  asked  Virginia  wonderingly,  "what  can 
she  want  over  there  in  the  woods?" 

"She's  jist  about  ove'  yo'  home,  ma'am,"  said 
Harrod. 

Virginia  grew  pale,  and  asking  for  the  glass, 
scanned  the  great  aerostat  with  the  lowered  lift,  like 
a  nexus,  to  the  ground. 

"Can't  you  go  a  little  faster?"  said  she,  laying 
down  the  binoculars. 

"Aftah  we  clear  Week's  Bay,"  said  the  captain, 
"we'll  go  raght  brisk,  Miss.  But  we  cain't  go  much 
faste'  hyah,  Ah'm  afraid." 

His  tones  were  low,  sympathetic,  respectful,  in 
curious,  perfectly  courteous.  She  felt  calmed.  Why 
be  agitated?  She  could  not  be  forced  to  return  with 
the  Shaynes;  and  what  chance  was  there,  for  that 
matter,  for  them  to  find  this  speck  of  a  launch,  and 
they  so  high  above  it  and  so  far  away? 

Once  clear  of  the  channel  they  stood  for  the  south 
shore,  the  engines  firing  in  continuous  explosion, 
as  the  captain  threw  on  the  last  speed.  The  bay 
was  a  great  mirror.  A  fishing  schooner,  becalmed 
with  all  sails  set,  floated  like  a  cloud  above  her  own 
elongated  image;  the  cumulus  clouds  gleamed  in 
pearly  immensity  from  the  glassy  depths,  more  im 
posing  than  in  the  sky;  and  the  pursuing  gulls 


212    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

occasionally  embraced  their  own  white  wraiths  as 
they  dipped  in  the  wave  of  the  wake,  the  real  kiss 
ing  the  ideal.  So  thought  Virginia,  forgetful  of 
the  great  aerostat  at  Carson's  Landing,  forgetful 
of  everything  except  the  calm  bay,  the  speeding 
boat,  the  meeting  before  her — the  real  kissing  the 
ideal.  Suddenly  with  a  little  scream,  she  leaned 
out  to  look  upward  past  the  awning.  In  the  water, 
instead  of  bird  or  sail  or  cloud,  she  had  seen,  com 
ing  up  from  the  depths  under  their  rail,  the  Roc, 
under  full  speed,  her  great  engines  purring  like 
tiger-cats,  her  screws  shimmering,  her  giant  hull  a 
resplendent  bubble  of  steel.  Looking  up,  Virginia 
saw  her  overhead,  and  cowered  back  into  the  boat; 
for  peering  over  the  rail  and  calling  like  an  evil 
bird,  was  Silberberg. 

"Shall  Ah  answer  the  hail,  Miss?"  asked  the 
captain. 

"No!"  whispered  Virginia.  "Take  no  notice,  I 
beg  of  you,  Captain !" 

The  Roc  swept  on  like  a  meteor,  leaving  the 
launch  behind.  Virginia  asked  the  captain  if  he 
supposed  she  had  been  recognized. 

"Ah  reckon  not,  Miss,"  said  he.  "Jist  a  chance 
meetin',  Ah  reckon." 

The  captain  told  of  accidental  meetings  of  sailors 
in  strange  parts,  of  rencounters  in  the  woods,  and 
of  experiences  along  the  waterside  of  Mobile  and 


AN  OVER-SUCCESSFUL  EMBASSY     213 

Pensacola.  The  Roc,  dead  ahead,  her  reflection 
wimpling  in  the  water  like  a  stripe  of  nickel-plate, 
was  miles  away,  and  Virginia  breathed  freely. 
She  was  not  frightened,  she  told  herself — but  she 
didn't  care  to  meet  the  Shaynes,  or  Silberberg. 

"She's  come  to,  raght  ove'  the  Inn,"  said  the 
captain.  "We're  ove'haulin'  her." 

"Is  there  no  way  of  getting  to  Theodore,"  said 
Virginia,  adopting  language  that  drew  a  smile  from 
Mrs.  Stott,  "except  by  passing  them?" 

"No,  Miss,"  said  the  captain.  "It's  thataway  o' 
none." 

Virginia  sat  under  the  middle  of  the  awning, 
quite  in  a  tremble.  The  boat  slowly  threaded  the 
shelly  entrance  to  the  Bayou,  and  passed  the  wharf 
of  the  Inn.  The  people  on  the  quay  were  craning 
their  necks  at  the  descent  of  the  passengers  from  the 
Roc. 

"Hurry,  Captain,  hurry !"  urged  Virginia, 

"Ah  cain't,  ma'am,"  said  he.  "Ah'll  hev  to  lie 
to  a  minute,  foh  that  boat.  Neve'  fear,  Miss;  yo' 
all  raght  with  me!" 

"Here  you  see,"  said  a  voice  from  th'e  wharf, 
"two  soon-to-be-discarded  modes  of  navigation — 
the  boat  displacing  water,  and  the  aerostat  floating 
in  the  air  upheld  by  gas.  The  hydroplane  must  re 
place  the  boat;  the  aeronef,  the  aerostat.  I  have 
made  a  specialty  of  this.  I  know.  The  value  of  that 


214   VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

cigar-shaped  craft  up  there  as  junk,  deducted  from 
her  present  value,  is  the  measure  of  Mr.  Finley 
Shayne's  loss  when  our  big  show  opens  its  ticket 
wagon.  Seest  thou?" 

Virginia  looked  attentively  at  the  speaker,  startled 
to  hear  her  uncle's  name  mentioned  almost  in  his 
presence.  She  saw  a  youngish  man  of  medium 
height,  thin  habit  of  body,  and  long,  thick  hair, 
who  Was  gazing,  with  every  appearance  of  interest, 
not  at  the  air-ship,  but  at  a  lady  of  perhaps  twenty- 
seven"  years,  short,  plump,  admirably  gowned  in  a 
sort  of  reduced  half-mourning,  with  her  jolly  little 
face  turned  toward  the  Roc,  her  brown  hair  tousled 
about  her  face,  her  prominent  little  chin  carrying 
the  facial  angle  forward  and  downward. 

"That  talk  will 'do  with  me,"  said  she,  "but  you've 
got  to  show  papa  something  besides  oratory  pretty 
soon,  or  there'll  be  trouble.  He  tells  me  that  you 
and  Mr.  Carson  are  the  first  ever  to  sell  him  a  gold 
brick;  And  lie  proposes  to  make  an  example  of  you. 
Ydu're  supposed  to  be  iri  custody  now." 

"Never  mind,  honey — " 

"Now,  that  will  do !"  said  she. 

"Well,  I'll  think  it,"  said  he.  "The  tongue  may 
be  in  custody  with  the  body,  but  the  spirit  is  free — 
begad!  And  my  youthful  Edison  can't  elude  us 
much  longer.  Why,  he's  got  to  make  good!  If 
he  doesn't — 


AN   OVER-SUCCESSFUL   EMBASSY     215 

"  'I  will  grasp  Theodore  until 
I  feel  his  red  wet  throat  distil 
In  blood  through  these  two  hands !' 

That's  what  I'll  do.  Why,  your  father  sees  in  the 
aeronef  the  missing  link  between  the  monkey  of 
failure  and  the  Caucasian  of  success.  He's  satisfied 
with  the  cinch  of  the  Air  Products  Company — 
and  when  a  cinch  satisfies  your  respected  dad,  dear 
— I  mean,  of  course — why,  here  he  is,  now !" 

Mr.  Waddy  came  down  the  wharf,  combing  his 
whiskers  and  mustache  out  in  front  of  his  nose 
with  his  fingers.  He  carried  a  daisy,  which  he 
handed  to  the  lady,  who  began  picking  off  its  petals 
as  if  trying  her  sweetheart's  love,  turning  toward 
the  younger  man  an  incurved  back,  up  and  down 
which  ran  a  row  of  buttons,  from  the  neck  to  the 
bottom  of  the  shapely  waist.  As  Harrod's  boat 
glided  within  arm's  length  of  the  wharf,  the  lift 
descended  from  the  air-ship,  filling  Virginia  with 
terror. 

"I  don't  think  I'll  get  you  another  posy,  Caro 
line,"  said  the  old  man.  "Pickin'  it  to  bits  like 
that!" 

"I'm  trying  my  fortune,"  said  she,  with  a  little 
embarrassed  laugH. 

"Humph !"  said  her  father. 

The  younger  man  seemingly  recovered  from  his 


216    VIRGINIA    OF   THE    AIR    LANES 

perplexity,  was  touching  the  row  of  buttons  one  by 
one;  and  as  the  launch  gathered  way,  Virginia 
heard  him  say  to  button  after  button,  "She  loves 
me!  She  loves  me  not!  .  .  .  She  loves  me! 
Hooray!" 

The  shout  greeted  the  favorable  answer  of  the 
oracle.  The  lady,  as  if  feeling  the  fingers  in  her 
curls,  turned  and  gently  slapped  the  gentleman's 
ears.  The  launch  shot  into  the  canal,  and  out  of 
sight. 

"Hooray !"  shouted  Virginia. 

"Why,"  said  Mrs.  Stott,  "you  are  quite  excited, 
Miss  Suarez!" 

"It  was  the  fortune-telling,"  said  Virginia.  "I 
wanted  it  to  come  out  that  way.  And  I  said 
'Hooray !'  to  echo  him." 

As  for  Captain  Harrod,  he  did  not  shout.  He 
wondered  what  Mr.  Theodore  would  say  when 
the  launch  discharged  the  cargo  resulting  from  his 
over-successful  embassy. 


CHAPTER  XI 

STABLE  AND  UNSTABLE  EQUILIBRIUM 

WHATEVER  anger  Mr.  Carson  may 
have  felt  at  Captain  Harrod  for  bring 
ing  Virginia  Suarez  and  Mrs.  Stott 
into  camp,  was  sternly  repressed.  The  ladies  were 
made  sole  owners  of  the  cabin,  and  the  men  slept 
with  the  aeronef  by  night,  while  by  day  Captain 
Harrod  stood  by  to  aid  Theodore,  slipping  away 
to  the  top  of  the  dunes  at  times  to  scan  the  offing 
for  the  slimy-nosed  Stickleback,  inexplicably  reap 
pearing,  with  her  oval  deck  just  awash,  her  thin, 
semi-invisible  periscope  in  air.  Having  arranged 
with  Reagan  for  a  cessation  of  the  contraband  busi 
ness  until  the  aeronef  was  off  the  stocks,  the  captain 
was  worried.  He  waved  the  Chautauqua  salute  one 
day,  whereupon  the  submarine  sounded  like  a  gal- 
lied  rorqual.  The  captain's  ingenuity  was  not  equal 
to  the  task  of  developing  a  theory  to  account  for  her 
presence  or  her  alarm.  Perhaps  she  was  not  the 
Stickleback;  but  if  not,  why  was  she  prowling  about? 
And  why  was  she  frightened  at  the  old  signal  ? 
So  the  superintendence  of  the  work,  the  talking 
217 


218    VIRGINIA    OF.   THE    AIR    LANES 

of  aeronautics  to  Theodore  and  inspiring  him  to 
greater  application,  fell  to  Virginia;  for  Mrs.  Stott 
was  studying  shells.  Carson  suddenly  became  pos 
sessed  of  an  unremitting  energy  that  commanded 
Virginia's1  admiration;  but  if  she  wandered  away 
for  a  little  while,  the  sound  of  his  tools  ceased,  and 
he  came  looking  for  her.  As  he  told  her  again  of 
his  struggles,  his  experiments,  his  falling  into  the 
garden  of  Doctor  Witherspoon,  his  meeting  with 
Craighead,  the  financial  enlistment  of  Mr.  Waddy, 
and  of  the  puzzling  messages  he  had  received,  she 
became  an  enthusiast,  too. 

"I'd  like  to  meet  Mr.  Craighead,"  said  she.  "I'd 
like  to  feel  sure  of  him.  How  can  he  secure  a  mo 
nopoly  of  the  navigation  of  the  air?" 

"I  have  no  idea,"  replied  Theodore,  "but  he  says 
he  has." 

"Now,  what,"  she  queried,  "could  ever  prevent 
the  Roc  from  freely  swooping  down  and  taking  me 
away  ?" 

"I  could!"  said  Theodore  firmly. 

"Maybe,"  said  Virginia,  "if  you  wouldn't  be  glad 
to  have  them — " 

"Virginia!"  He  began,  adopting  the  familiar 
address. 

" — but,"  she  went  on,  "from  swooping,  you  know  ? 
Your  Mr.  Craighead  couldn't  prevent  them  from 
either  snooping,  or  swooping,  it  seems  to  me." 


UNSTABLE    EQUILIBRIUM          219 

This  statement  was  worthy  of  consideration;  so 
he  sat  down  beside  her — to  ponder. 

"No,"  said  she,  "you  mustn't  quit  work.  We  must 
do  our  part,  whatever  Mr.  Craighead  does." 

Theodore  was  really  tired,  but  he  rose  and  re 
turned  to  work.  A  tired  person  helps  himself  to 
rise  by  putting  his  hand  on  something.  Theodore 
placed  his  on  the  bench ;  and  if  Virginia's  hand  hap 
pened  to  be  just  there,  was  it  his  fault?  He  fell  to 
work  furiously.  When  he  looked  again,  she  was 
hugging  the  hand  to  her  bosom  as  if  it  had  become 
a  doll  and  she  was  a  little  girl. 

"You  might  form  an  opinion  of  him,"  said  he, 
"by  reading  his  telegrams." 

"Of  whom?"  inquired  Virginia,  evidently  think 
ing  of  something  else. 

"Craighead,"  replied  Carson.  "Here  they  are. 
What  do  you  think  of  them?" 

The  first  was  dated  Charleston,  West  Virginia. 
"Air  Products  incorporated,"  it  ran.  "Immense 
sensation  in  trust  incubator  and  brooder.  Why 
don't  I  hear  from  illustrious  co-conspirator?  Craig- 
head,  the  Plute." 

"Tries  to  be  humorous,"  said  Virginia.  "Let's 
see  the  next." 

The  next  was  dated  "En  route  to  Cosmopolis 
from  Incubator,"  and  was  unsigned.  "To  Him 
Who  Commands  the  Winds,  from  Him  Who  Winds 


220    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

the  Commands,  greeting,"  it  ran.  "Be  of  good 
cheer.  The  train  is  laid,  the  gin  is  set,  the  dogs  of 
war  strain  forward  in  the  leash.  But  is  there  any 
aeronef?  Broom  end  of  pipe-dream  assumes  ter 
rifying  concreteness.  Noble,  sir,  assure  me  of 
thine !  Just  wire  saying  you  are  you,  and  there  is 
an  aeronef,  collect!" 

"Did  you  answer  this?"  asked  Virginia. 

Theodore  shook  his  head. 

"I  feel,"  said  Virginia,  "that  he  was  downcast, 
and  could  not  believe  in  good  things.  It  is  the  only 
convincing  thing  I've  seen — so  pathetic,  as  if  he 
needed  help.  Why  didn't  you  answer  it,  uncle?" 

"It  was  days  and  days  before  I  got  it,"  said 
Theodore. 

"Why  didn't  he  send  it  to  the  plantation?"  asked 
Virginia. 

"I  gave  him  this  address,"  said  Theodore.  "I — 
I  stayed  there  too — too  long." 

He  opened  the  gyroscope  globe,  and  began  run 
ning  the  engines  lightly,  setting  the  heavy  little 
wheels  spinning,  rocking  the  aeronef  from  side  to 
side  to  note  the  operation  of  the  balancing  devices. 
Preserving  their  perpendicularity,  as  if  of  intelli 
gent  purpose,  the  gyroscopes  moved  the  levers  of 
the  wing-differentials  which  would  accelerate  the 
propeller-wheels  of  the  lowered  wing  and  corre 
spondingly  slow  the  upper.  Right  or  left,  stern  or 


UNSTABLE    EQUILIBRIUM          221 

bow,  the  depressed  area  would  work  the  harder, 
the  raised  part  slower,  while  powerful  rudders  co 
operated,  moving  like  a  fish's  fins,  even  now  while 
the  propeller  rested.  Theodore  was  getting  past  an 
awkward  reference  to  his  long  stay  at  the  planta 
tion  by  a  painstaking  examination  of  the  brain  of 
his  air-ship. 

"See  how  it  works,  Virginia!"  he  exclaimed. 
"It  knows  the  levers  to  be  moved !  Why,  if  a  puff 
starts  to  overturn  her,  she'll  strike  with  the  lowered 
wings  alone  like  a  bird.  And  see  the  intelligence  of 
those  rudders!  And  that  fellow  said  she'd  turn 
turtle!" 

Virginia  gazed  in  admiration.  The  clutch  had 
been  off  ten  minutes,  and  still  the  gyroscopes  spun, 
so  silent,  so  immovable,  that  one  might  have  laid 
hold  of  them,  thinking  them  stationary. 

"How  long  they  run!"  she  cried. 

"Long!"  said  he  scornfully.  "Why,  with  the 
globe  on  and  the  air  out  of  it,  they'll  run  a  whole 
day  after  the  engines  are  stopped.  They're  the 
heart  and  brain  of  my  invention,  Virginia.  I'm 
proud  of  it." 

"And  Mr.  Craighead  doesn't  get  any  report  of 
all  this !  What  must  he  think?" 

"I  told  him  about  it,"  said  Theodore  proudly. 
"And  it  was  no  time  to  telegraph  apologies.  It  was 
a  time  to  work." 


222    VIRGINIA    OF   THE    AIR    LANES 

"I  won't  bother  you,"  said  she,  stepping  from  the? 
car,  "any  more.  I  give  you  my  word !" 

He  rose  to  follow,  his  foot  on  the  gunwale,  his 
eyes  demanding  explanation. 

"If  you  go,"  said  he,  "I  shall  cease  work — at 
once.  You  help  me!" 

"Then  go  back  to  work,  uncle,"  she  pleaded. 
"Please !  And  I'll  read  the  rest  of  poor  Mr.  Craig- 
head's  telegrams." 

She  sat  where  he  could  see  her  by  turning  his 
head — quite  the  thing  as  between  an  affectionate 
uncle  and  a  charming  young  niece.  Blood  is  thicker 
than  water,  thought  she — oh,  vastly  thicker! 

The  Stickleback  outside,  if  her  inexplicable  prowl 
ing  had  to  do  with  any  one's  desire  to  see  what  the 
air-ship  would  do,  was  not  to  have  long  to  wait. 
While  Virginia  read  the  telegrams,  Theodore, 
whose  genius  and  strength  were  fast  winning  her 
rather  fearful  respect,  was  replacing  the  vacuum 
globe  over  the  gyroscopes. 

The  next  message  was  addressed  to  General 
Theodo'  Carson,  M.  A.,  and  ran :  "A'  God's  name, 
sweet  knight,  discover.  Art  asset  or  liability?  An 
swer  yes  or  no !" 

Then  came  one  addressed  to  Palmetto  Beach, 
"or  somewhere  it  is  hoped,"  and  seemed  to  be  re 
garded  by  Craighead  as  very  important.  "My  luck 
hath  turned!  It  is  Craighead  Felix  now,"  said  he. 


UNSTABLE    EQUILIBRIUM          223 

"I  could  fall  in  a  well  and  'come  up  bearing  the 
jewel  of  the  tutelary  toad  in  my  nose.  Have  found 
a  gang  of  grafters  organized  to  get  us  grants  in  no 
time;  will  cinch  New  York  by  Friday;  Chicago 
already  hemmed  in.  New  Thought:  fee  of  roads 
in  grangers  everywhere.  Will  secure  title  except 
for  road  purposes.  'Tis  ever  sweet  to  see  the 
engineer  hoist  by  his  own  petard.  Monopoly,  we 
delve  beneath  thee!  Shayne,  thy  sun  sets  apace! 
To  your  tents,  O  Israel !  Whoop !  Whoop ! 
Whoopee!  We've  got  'em,  we've  got  'em!  Caro 
line's  dad  ready  to  bust  all  eight  banks  to  back 
scheme.  You  must  make  good,  Theodorie.  The 
Dread  Sisters  of  the  thread  and  shears  never  done 
nobody  the  dirt  they'd  do  me  to  let  you  turn  me 
down.  Answer,  for  the  sake  of  divine  pity,  just 
one  leetle  teeney  peep ! — Napoleon  Bonaparte  Han 
nibal  Miltiades  Craighead." 

"What  does  he  mean,"  asked  Virginia,  "by  all 
this  about  grants,  highways  and  fee  simple?  It's 
awfully  queer." 

"I  don't  know,"  replied  Carson.  "Some  vision 
ary  thing." 

"And  who  is  Caroline?"  asked  Virginia. 

"Mrs.  Graybill,  Mr.  Waddy's  daughter.  Now, 
listen,  Virginia,  and  watch.  She's  ready  to  try." 

He  threw  in  the  clutch,  and  the  wings  began 
whirring  like  great  buzzes,  blowing  the  sand  off  the 


224    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

floor  into  the  farthest  corners  and  setting  light 
things  flying  in  the  tremendous  currents  of  air,  so 
that  Virginia  clung  to  her  hat,  wound  her  skirts 
about  her  legs  and  sat  on  them,  in  the  cage  of  a  do 
mesticated  tornado.  Faster  and  faster  the  wing- 
sections  whirled  until  the  aeronef  strained  upward 
on  her  lashings  like  a  restive  horse.  Theodore  tip 
ped  a  lever  and  she  leaped  forward,  stretching  the 
ropes  at  an  angle  of  forty-five  degrees;  he  re 
versed  it,  and  she  slacked  backward,  as  might  an 
eagle  repulsed  by  a  foe.  Virginia  swung  her  hat 
and  shouted. 

"Pull  the  line  on  the  end  of  that  wing,"  said  he, 
"and  see  if  you  can  tip  her.  Pull !" 

Virginia  walked  gingerly  forward,  her  dress  fly 
ing,  her  hat  whisked  to  the  top  of  the  room.  Grasp 
ing  the  flying  rope-end,  she  pulled  downward.  The 
wings  settled  slightly,  and  then,  as  the  gyroscope- 
brain  felt  the  depression,  the  lowered  wings  lifted 
as  if  consciously  rising  to  a  load.  It  was  marvelous, 

"Can't  you  pull  harder?"  cried  Theodore,  bare 
headed,  his  hair  flying.  "Try !" 

"Aye,  aye,  sir!"  cried  Virginia  cheerily,  "try 
it  is!  But  suppose  I  lose  my  clothes  in  the  gale? 
I  haven't  many!" 

Reaching  up  she  pulled  herself  clear  of  the 
floor,  her  strong  little  form  swaying  like  a  most 
charming  pendulum.  The  enormous  dragon-fly, 


UNSTABLE    EQUILIBRIUM  225 

throwing  its  power  into  the  depressing  wing,  rode 
level,  with  nine  stone  weight  of  solid  American  girl 
dangling  from  the  tip  of  one  wing, — a  mechanical 
paradox.  Back  and  forth  she  swung;  until,  with 
muscles  weakened,  she  dropped  to  the  floor.  In 
stantly,  the  released  side  rose  a  thought  too  high, 
the  other  took  the  power;  there  was  a  momentary 
vibration,  as  the  momentum  of  the  swing  was  taken 
out  by  the  differentials,  and  the  boat  stood  in  air,  as 
level  as  a  ship  in  a  calm. 

"Hurrah !"  shouted  Theodore,  swinging  his  arms. 
"Never  anything  like  it  in  the  world.  Carried  you 
on  one  wing,  and  kept  level.  Hurrah  for  the 
Virginia!" 

He  eased  her  down,  and  stepped  to  where  Vir 
ginia  waited,  hands  outstretched,  red  from  the 
rough  rope,  hair  blown  abroad. 

"And  are  you  going  to  name  her  that?"  she 
cried.  "Oh,  how  perfectly  dear  of  you!" 

Theodore  held  the  chafed  hands,  triumph  in  his 
face,  happy  as  he  only  can  be  who  tastes  the  fruit 
of  achievement. 

"She  carried  you  on  one  wing!"  said  he.  "She 
did,  didn't  she?" 

"She  did,"  replied  Virginia;  "and  it  made  my 
hands  too  sore  for  squeezing  purposes,  uncle !  But 
she  did." 

Theodore  opened  the  little  red  palms  and  kissed 


226    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

them,  over  and  over  again.  Mrs.  Stott  came  in  and 
saw  him  doing  it. 

"I  hurt  my  hands,"  said  Virginia,  showing  them. 
"And  uncle  is  kissing  them  well." 

"Very  kind  and  self-sacrificing,  I'm  sure!"  re 
plied  Mrs.  Stott. 

"I'm  going  with  you,  now,"  said  Virginia,  taking 
Mrs.  Stott's  arm. 

"It  may  be  as  well,"  said  Mrs.  Stott. 

Virginia  looked  back,  rosy,  smiling,  a  little  reck 
less.  Theodore  went  for  Harrod,  to  help  with  the 
launching.  They  were  all  excitement;  for  by  noon 
of  the  next  day  they  would  have  her  in  the  air. 
Mr.  Wizner,  outside  in  the  Stickleback,  thought  it 
quite  time. 


CHAPTER  XII 

MR.  CRAIGHEAD  IN  CUSTODY 

MR.  WADDY  says  that  he  never  should 
have  gone  into  Craighead's  schemes, 
but  for  "the  children/'  meaning  Mrs. 
Graybill  and  the  eight  banker-brothers.  He  was 
comfortably  "reverting  to  type,"  when  Caroline 
interrupted  the  process — which  was  a  return  in 
old  age  to  the  ways  of  his  youth.  This  was  a 
family  scandal  involving  a  mode  of  life  quite  in 
consistent  with  wealth, — live  stock  on  the  lawns, 
seed-corn  in  the  library,  a  cream-separator  by  the 
bust  of  Shakespeare,  cast-iron  stoves  burning  corn 
cobs,  for  radiators;  and  more  scandalous  than  all, 
he  had  actually  hired  out  to  Doctor  Witherspoon, 
and  between  meetings  of  directors  and  stock-holders, 
he  was  performing  the  more  or  less  useful  labor  of 
a  "jag-boss";  not  for  purposes  of  investigation,  or 
to  procure  "materials"  for  a  book,  but  with  the  hor 
rible  object  of  earning  wages. 

So  Mrs.   Graybill,  under  the  pretext  of  house- 
cleaning,  had  the  seed-corn  taken  down  from  over 

227 


228    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

the  portraits  of  Dante  and  ^Eschylus,  and  removed 
the  cream-separator  from  its  place  beside  the  bard 
of  Avon — who  had  been  looking  at  it  all  the  time 
with  a  knowing  air,  as  if  entirely  familiar  with  its 
operation.  The  wagons  and  harrows  and  cows  were 
sold.  The  old  democrat  wagon  and  matronly 
Percheron  mare,  whose  progress  was  impeded  by 
the  necessity  of  an  occasional  stop  for  purposes 
connected  with  the  sustenance  of  her  colt,  were  sup 
planted  by  a  new  automobile.  Mr.  Waddy,  like 
the  toes  of  the  Barefoot  Boy,  was  encased  "in  the 
prison-cells  of  pride." 

It  was  galling;  and  so,  sitting  desolate  in  his 
deruralized  library,  the  old  gentleman,  having  no 
vocation  for  any  other  intoxicant,  imbibed  freely  of 
Craighead.  He  knew  that  he  was  likely  to  lose 
money  by  it.  He  rather  desired  to  do  so,  that  he 
might  say  to  his  sons,  and  to  Caroline:  "Well, 
dumb  it!  If  you'd  have  let  me  alone  I  wouldn't 
have  lost  anything!" 

But  that  was  at  first.  The  money  for  the  last 
touches  to  the  air-ship  was  to  be  the  extent  of  his 
venture;  and  then  came  Craighead  with  his  new- 
hatched  plan  for  actually  monopolizing  the  air; 
and,  Mr.  Waddy,  having  submitted  it  to  his  local 
lawyer,  hesitated,  and  was  lost. 

"I'll  go  into  it,"  said  he.  "We'll  make  everybody 
come  and  settle  that  wants  a  trip  by  air-ship.  Hey?" 


MR.    CRAIGHEAD    IN    CUSTODY     229 

"Exactly!"  replied  Craighead. 

"Jest  as  if  the  whole  country  was  our  farm!" 
cried  Mr.  Waddy. 

"It  will  be  for  circumambient  purposes,"  replied 
Craighead.  "And  as  you  so  well  said,  a  farm's  a 
cinch.  And  remember,  Mr.  Waddy :  in  putting 
Shayne  and  his  pirates  down  and  out,  we  and  our 
pirates  are  making  way  for  the  matchless,  unsink- 
able,  double-acting,  universal-speed,  direct-drive, 
non-halation,  orthochromatic  Carson  aeronef.  Don't 
forget  our  haughty  Southron  co-conspirator  who 
will  wing  his  way  to  Illinois  by  the  time  we  return. 
Don't  fall  down  and  forget  that." 

"Huh,"  ejaculated  Mr.  Waddy. 

"Oh,  say  not  so,  Mr.  Waddy,  say  not  so!"  urged 
Mr.  Craighead  protestingly.  "Our  aeronef  has 
everything,  the  in-shoot,  the  drop,  the  float,  the 
out — everything!  Tested  under  all  conditions; 
margin-of-safety  factor  completely  looked  after; 
basic  principle  so  demonstrably  correct;  gyroscopic 
libration-devices,  for  automatic  power-distribution 
to  correct  perturbations  of  all  sorts,  perpendicular, 
horizontal  and  oblique.  Why,  doubt  these  and  doubt 
the  advance  of  science,  the  improvement  in  corn, 
the  advent  of  the  general-purpose  hen,  the  fixation 
of  nitrogen  in  the  soil  by  the  nodules  on  the  roots 
of  legumes — or  is  it  on  the  legs  of  rootlumes  ?  Thou 
knowast,  O  son  of  the  soil,  which  it  is !  All  of  us 


230    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

knowest  how  crude  it  is  to  doubt  'em ;  and  to  doubt 
the  Carson  aeronef  is  waur,  mon,  a  deil  sight  waur!" 

"Well,  you'd  better  have  him  on  hand,"  said  Mr. 
Waddy,  "as  he  promised,  or  I'll  know  why  he  took 
my  good  hard  money." 

It  was  on  occasions  of  this  sort  that  Mr.  Craig- 
head  had  sweated  telegrams  begging  to  know  if 
Theodore  really  had  any  air-ship,  and  asking  of 
Carson's  status  as  asset  or  liability;  for  Mr.  Waddy 
had  accompanied  Craighead  east;  and  these  tele 
graphic  moans  of  a  spirit  agonized  by  doubt  had 
been  evoked  by  his  truculent  attitude  toward  the 
possible  failure  of  Carson  to  come  north  cleaving 
the  air  in  the  invention  which  was  to  change  the 
world. 

"But  think,  my  dear  sir,"  protested  Mr.  Craig- 
head,  "of  the  untold  millions  in  the  Broom  idea — 
aerial  monopoly!  Even  if  Theodore  should  be 
only  four  clubs  and  a  spade,  we  still  hold  the  aces, 
my  dear  Mr.  Waddy.  Do  not  grind  your  teeth 
thus,  so  long  as  the  American  Nitrates  and  Air 
Products  Company  remains  as  the  Archimedean 
lever  with  which  to  pry  up  and  dump  the  world. 
We  are  ahead,  whatever  happens  to  the  aeronef 
end  of  the  deal." 

"Well,  the  aeronef  end,"  said  Mr.  Waddy,  "had 
better  come  to  the  center,  or  I'll  see  what  law  there 
is  for  getting  money  by  false  pretenses." 


MR.    CRAIGHEAD    IN    CUSTODY     231 

And  Craighead  sent  another  frenzied  query  as 
to  whether  the  tardy  Theodore  really  had  any 
aeronef;  Carson,  meanwhile,  being  oblivious  of  it 
all  in  his  effort  to  be  a  well-behaved  uncle  to  Vir 
ginia  down  among  the  pines. 

The  two  men  were  the  best  of  traveling  compan 
ions.  Mr.  Waddy  insisted  on  going  in  the  smoker; 
Mr.  Craighead  took  the  state-room  while  his  money 
lasted ;  and  then  borrowed  of  Mr.  Waddy.  In  New 
York  Mr.  Waddy  stayed  at  the  Mills,  and  would 
not  let  Craighead  go  to  the  Vathek,  because  they 
ought  to  be  where  they  could  consult.  This  neces 
sitated  Mr.  Craighead's  sneaking  to  the  nearest 
subway  station  every  morning  and  going  up-town 
to  make  the  start  for  the  day.  Here  he  would  enter 
the  Vathek's  lobby,  solemnly  fee  a  boy,  buy  a  cigar, 
and  rejoin  Waddy  in  the  street.  This,  he  explained, 
was  to  get  the  proper  psychological  aura  for  finan 
cial  operations;  to  complete  which  he  took  an  elec 
tric  hansom  to  Wall  Street,  and  awaited  in  the  ante 
room  of  a  friend's  office  the  appearance  of  Mr. 
Waddy,  who  came  by  car,  scrutinizing  the  buildings 
like  a  prospective  buyer.  Yet  they  got  along  swim 
mingly. 

Mr.  Craighead  had  advertised  for  people  able  to 
organize  a  rapid  business  campaign  covering  the 
civilized  world  to  meet  him  in  West  Twenty-third 
Street  at  the  studio  of  an  acquaintance,  to  whom  he 


232    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

had  neglected  to  impart  any  knowledge  of  the  tryst 
with  the  specialists.  Waddy  and  Craighead  arrived 
somewhat  late,  on  account  of  the  time  consumed  in 
adjusting  Mr.  Craighead's  aura,  and  found  a  crush 
of  people  entirely  alien  to  the  fine  arts,  filling  the 
studio  and  the  hall  outside.  Craighead's  sculptor 
friend,  with  a  lady  model,  escaped  the  angry  mob 
into  the  scaffolding  of  an  equestrian  group  repre 
senting  an  Indian  maiden  in  a  stampede  of  buf 
faloes.  The  model  had  been  posing  for  something 
— an  Indian  maiden,  perhaps — and  had  feathers  in 
her  hair.  The  sculptor  was  disputing  acrimoniously 
with  a  Roman-nosed  captain  of  industry,  who  wore 
sandals  and  no  waistcoat,  as  to  whether  he  would  or 
would  not  contribute  a  nickel  with  which  to  free 
the  telephone  for  the  purpose  of  calling  the  police 
that  he  might  be  "pinched"  for  putting  in  "them 
ads." 

Craighead  broke  through  by  impersonating  an 
officer,  shouting,  "Make  way  for  the  police!"  and 
upper-cutting  the  crowd  with  his  elbows. 

"Hello,  De  Land !"  said  he,  nodding  to  the  sculp 
tor.  "Most  beauteous  princess  of  the  Apaches, 
how?" 

"That  you,  Craig?"  called  down  the  sculptor. 
"What,  not  sober?  Go  after  the  police.  Turn  these 
people  out,  please,  Craig!" 

"Friends  of  mine,"  said  Craighead.     "I  adver- 


MR.    CRAIGHEAD    IN    CUSTODY     233 

tised  for  'em.  Hope  you  haven't  been  incommoded, 
old  man!" 

"Not  at  all!"  replied  the  sculptor  sarcastically. 
"But  get  them  out,  so  Miss  Brown  and  I  can 
descend." 

Craighead's  manner  of  disposing  of  the  crowd 
commanded  Mr.  Waddy's  sincere  respect  He  went 
about  with  marvelous  rapidity,  sending  away  those 
whose  non-utility  was  unquestionable,  and  making 
engagements  with  others  at  "our  Wall  Street  office," 
the  name  of  which  made  everybody  more  respectful, 
save  a  lady  in  goggles,  who  demanded  damages  for 
having  been  detained  forcibly  in  a  disreputable 
place,  the  character  of  which  she  proved  by  putting 
in  evidence  Miss  Brown  and  certain  studies  in  the 
nude.  Mr.  Craighead  cowed  her  by  a  lecture  on 
the  difference  between  the  naked  and  the  nude, 
which  so  horrified  the  lady  that  when  he  asked 
Miss  Brown  to  illustrate  certain  points  which  were 
obscure  in  the  abstract,  she  dashed  off  her  goggles 
to  shut  out  the  awful  sight  and  fled  screaming. 

The  dinner  to  which  Mr.  Craighead  took  Mr.  De 
Land,  Miss  Brown,  and  Mr.  Waddy,  was  the  first  of 
a  series  which  reduced  Mr.  Waddy  to  torpor.  The 
old  gentleman,  in  his  long  frock-coat,  which  buttoned 
to  a  surtout,  his  frowzy  face,  and  his  evident  attach 
ment  to  Mr.  Craighead,  was  remembered  in  certain 
ultra- Bohemian  circles  for  his  surreptitious  slinking 


234   VIRGINIA    OF   THE   AIR    LANES 

into  the  dimmest  corners  of  cafes  and  roof  gardens. 
He  had  a  dark  secret,  Mr.  Craighead  said;  which, 
he  did  not  explain,  originated  in  Mr.  Waddy's 
agreement  with  the  lady  in  goggles  that  the  whole 
situation  was  improper.  He  felt  obliged  to  keep 
with  Craighead  because  of  a  suspicion  that  the 
aeronef  was  a  figment  of  two  Slattery  Institute  im 
aginations;  and  he  did  not  purpose  to  let  any  guilty 
man  escape.  So  he  providently  engaged  a  detective 
to  shadow  both  himself  and  Mr.  Craighead,  the  un 
remitting  presence  of  whom  in  very  plain  clothes 
made  Mr.  Waddy  feel  and  look  guilty  and  fugitive. 
Mr.  Kostomolasky,  an  artist,  sketched  him  one  mid 
night  as  a  symbolic  figure  of  Blue  Funk,  on  the  back 
of  an  engraving  which  he  tore  from  its  frame,  and 
which  Mr.  Waddy  bought  at  the  suggestion  of  the 
almond-eyed  management  of  the  chop  suey  estab 
lishment. 

His  second  reason  for  becoming  Mr.  Craighead's 
double  was  his  sense  of  duty  of  preventing  that 
pupil  of  Doctor  Witherspoon  from  breaking  the  vow 
of  abstinence.  So  he  drank  most  of  the  intoxicants 
served  to  Craighead,  somewhat  to  the  injury  of  his 
health,  but  much  to  the  betterment  of  his  reputa 
tion  as  a  roysterer.  Altogether,  it  was  a  relief  to 
get  Craighead  home,  where  he  installed  him  as  a 
lodger  and  boarder,  charging  him  well  for  his  ac 
commodation,  and  lending  him  the  money  on  his 


MR.    CRAIGHEAD    IN    CUSTODY     235 

note  to  pay  for  it.  On  arrival  he  went  to  bed  and 
turned  Craighead  over  to  Mrs.  Graybill,  with  strict 
injunctions  to  telephone  the  sheriff's  office  if  he  was 
unaccounted  for  for  more  than  an  hour.  He  told 
his  daughter  that  no  tongue  could  describe  what  he 
had  been  through,  what  with  sculptors  and  models, 
and  outlandish  suppers  toward  morning,  and  wine 
and  women  and  song.  He  was  not  to  be  disturbed 
except  for  something  important. 

"If  Mr.  Carson  comes,"  said  Mrs.  Graybill,  "I'll 
call  you." 

"And  if  Craighead  slopes?" 

"While  in  my  charge,"  said  Mrs.  Graybill,  "Mr. 
Craighead  will  not  depart." 

It  was  a  situation  with  some  unique  aspects.  Mr. 
Craighead  began  whiling  away  time  with  a  work  on 
the  Morphology  of  the  Crawfish,  and  dips  into  De 
Quincey's  Spanish  Nun.  Looking  from  the  library 
window,  he  saw  Mrs.  Graybill  enter  a  summer- 
house,  leaving  a  red  hat  on  the  railing  outside. 

The  Morphology  grew  uninteresting.  He  shut 
his  eyes,  but  the  red  hat  blazed  on  inside  his  eye 
lids — red,  yellow,  green  and  finally  purple.  Craig- 
head  stepped  from  the  window,  scanned  the  skies  for 
the  aeronef,  saw  nothing  aeronautical  save  the  usual 
flight  of  aerostats,  went  into  the  summer-house,  and 
started  at  finding  Mrs.  Graybill  there,  her  hair 
tousled  about  her  head,  her  little  nose  elevated  in 


236   VIRGINIA   OF   THE    AIR    LANES 

that  comical  resemblance  to  her  father's,  her  chin 
aggressively  carried  forward,  her  dress  fitting  as 
marvelously  as  ever. 

"Don't  insist  on  my  going,"  he  begged. 

"I  had  no  such  intention,"  she  replied.  "You 
may  smoke,  if  you  wish." 

"Thank  you,"  and  he  lighted  a  cigar.  "Mr. 
Waddy  informs  me  that  the  late  Mr.  Graybill  was 
a  minister  of  the  gospel,"  he  ventured. 

"Yes,"  she  replied,  "he  was." 

"And  that  he  has  been  called,"  Craighead  went 
on,  "to  a  better  life,  a  year  or  more?" 

"Fourteen  months,"  answered  Mrs.  Graybill. 

"I  have  been  reading,"  said  Craighead,  "a  work 
on  the  Morphology  of  the  Crawfish.  It  holds  me 
enthralled." 

"So  I  see,"  she  replied. 

Craighead  looked  up  suspiciously,  but  she  looked 
so  innocent! 

"The  crawfish,"  he  resumed,  "is  admirably 
adapted  to  a  very  lowly  station;  but  how  wonder 
fully  his  morphology  illustrates  the  overruling 
design  in  nature.  The  person  who  fails  to  glean 
wisdom  from  the  crawfish  has  never  tested  his 
intelligence  with  a  bare  toe,  nor  studied  Ms  mor 
phology!  Passing  wonderful — " 

"Mr.  Craighead!" 


MR.    CRAIGHEAD    IN    CUSTODY     237 

Mrs.  Graybill  had  dropped  her  work  and  looked 
at  Craighead  sternly. 

"Don't  pose !"  said  she.  "Don't  think  that  I  want 
a  beautiful  lesson  in  everything,  if  I  have  been  a 
minister's  wife.  Tell  me  of  Mr.  De  Land,  and — 
and  Sadie  Brown,  and  Mr.  Kostomolasky  and  the 
chop  suey,  and — and  that  life.  Tell  me,  Mr.  Craig- 
head!"  ' 

It  was  a  very,  very  marine  Bohemia  of  which 
Mrs.  Graybill  heard,  I  fear.  Whether  Mr.  Craig- 
head's  statues  were  the  equal  of  De  Land's  when  the 
former  took  up  chemistry  may  be  doubted ;  but  Mrs. 
Graybill  got  the  impression  that  they  were.  The 
point  here  is  that  there  was  no  danger  of  Craig- 
head's  running  off  while  she  listened  with  such 
breathless  interest  to  his  adventures.  He  explained 
his  natural  transition  from  the  study  of  artistic  an 
atomy  to  surgery,  and  then  through  medical  juris 
prudence  to  law;  and  over  all  gloomed  the  shadow 
of  his  wonderful,  his  poetic,  his  epic  dissipations. 
Mrs.  Graybill  was  shocked,  but  she  asked  for  all  the 
horrible  tale,  that  he  might  so  relive  it  that  nothing 
would  ever,  ever  induce  him  to  drink  again. 

"Only  one  thing  would  ever  do  that,"  said  he, 
"or  maybe  two.  The  pangs  of  despised  love — " 

"Which  you  have  never  experienced  ?"  she  asked. 

"Never,"  said  he,  "as  I  am  now  likely  to !" 


238    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

"And  the  other  shock  that  might  overturn  your 
self-control?" 

"The  failure  of  Carson,"  replied  Craighead. 
"That  would  put  me  down  and  out — down  and  out !" 

The  jailer  and  the  jailed  walked  together,  mo 
tored,  and  played  tennis,  in  growing  familiarity  and 
friendliness.  The  captive  approached  the  edge  of 
love-making,  looked  hungry  and  yearnful,  secreted 
gloves  and  handkerchiefs,  and  interfered  seriously 
with  Caroline's  household  duties;  all  borne  by  her 
with  an  equanimity  that  spoke  volumes  for  her  loy 
alty  to  the  commands  under  which  she  had  taken 
this  strange  gentleman  into  custody.  She  was  a 
very  dutiful  daughter. 

But  the  relations  of  Craighead  to  Mr.  Waddy  be 
came  more  and  more  strained.  Theodore  Carson, 
long  overdue,  had  not  appeared.  No  great  bird 
came  into  view  by  day;  no  mechanical  dragon-fly 
settled  in  the  yard  by  night.  Mr.  Waddy  was  iras 
cible.  The  Nitrates  Company  had  already  spread 
its  nets  over  many  states,  through  confidential  rela 
tions  of  its  agents  with  the  National  Federation  of 
Farmers,  spinning  aerial  monopoly  as  a  spider  spins 
its  web ;  but  the  more  promising  this  grew,  the  more 
galled  and  embittered  grew  Mr.  Waddy  at  Theo 
dore's  delinquency;  for  the  aeronef,  after  all,  was 
the  thing  which  had  appealed  to  his  imagination 
and  enlisted  his  desires. 


MR.    CRAIGHEAD    IN    CUSTODY    239 

"OH,  never  fear,"  Mr.  Craighead  protested. 
"He'll  be  here  in  time.  Delays,  delays,  Mr.  Waddy. 
Think  of  the  spark  plugs,  the  differentials,  and 
mufflers  and  things.  Why,  just  imagine — " 

"Huh!"  snorted  Mr.  Waddy.  "I  don't  b'lieve 
you  know  a  thing  about  it." 

"Sir,"  said  Craighead,  "this  amounts  to  an  impu 
tation  upon  my  pledge  that  the  aeronef  is  a  per 
fected  and  certain  success — an  imputation  unworthy 
of  you,  sir,  until  I  have  had  a  chance  to  put  the 
thing  to  proof,  or  you  have  shown  its  immateriality. 
This  is  unjust,  sir!" 

"All  right,"  said  the  old  gentleman.  "We'll  go 
an'  find  the  dumbed  thing.  Start  to-morrow  morn 
ing." 

"Certainly,"  said  Craighead,  in  no  apparent  em 
barrassment.  "With  all  the  world,  if  you  like." 

"Very  well,"  said  Mrs.  Graybill,  "that  includes 
me." 

"AK,  no!"  rejoined  Craighead,  "you  include  it!" 

Mrs.  Graybill's  glance  said  that  he  surely  didn't 
mean  it,  that  it  was  ridiculous  nonsense,  that  all 
such  things  were  absurd,  from  the  degenerate,  if 
interesting,  Craighead  to  the  relict  of  the  Reverend 
Mr.  Graybill ;  that  she  could  never  look  upon  Craig- 
head  in  any  such  light,  but  that  if  he  would  feel  so, 
she  couldn't  help  it;  but  her  lips  said  merely  that 
she  had  much  to  do  to  be  ready  in  the  morning. 


240    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

Thus  it  was  that  the  three  were  at  Palmetto  Beach 
when  Captain  Harrod  with  the  launch  passed 
through  Strong's  Bayou  with  Virginia  and  Mrs. 
Stott  on  the  way  to  the  cabin  where  the  first  Carson 
aeronef  was  preparing  for  its  delayed  flight  north. 
People  may  draw  their  own  conclusions  as  to  the 
significance  of  Mr.  Craighead's  questioning  of  ora 
cles,  daisy-petal-fashion,  by  the  buttons  on  Mrs. 
Graybill's  incurved  back,  and  of  his  punishment  by 
that  slight  box  on  the  ear;  but,  however  he  stood 
with  Mrs.  Graybill,  his  relations  with  Mr.  Waddy 
had  worsened.  Tickets  had  been  bought  to  Pal 
metto  Beach  on  Craighead's  statement  that  Carson 
was  here;  and  the  party  had  disembarked,  in  glum 
silence  on  Mr.  Waddy's  part,  nervous  loquacity  on 
Craighead's,  and  anxious  endeavor  on  Mrs.  Gray- 
bill's  to  smooth  things  over. 

"Ah,"  said  Craighead.  "How  natural  it  all  looks ! 
I  seem  never  to  have  left  these  balmy,  if  somewhat 
sandy  shades.  Dear  old  Yupon  Hedge  Inn !" 

Mr.  Craighead  was  halted  by  a  liveried  atten 
dant. 

"Beg  pardon,  sir,"  said  he.  "This  is  a  private 
club-house.  The  Inn's  over  there!" 

"Oh,  certainly,"  replied  Craighead.  "All  cement 
walks  look  alike  to  me." 

"The  one  over  at  the  Inn  looks  like  brick,"  said 
Mr.  Waddy  grimly. 


MR.    CRAIGHEAD    IN    CUSTODY     241 

"Oh,  see  the  magnolia  blooms !"  cried  Mrs.  Gray- 
bill.  "I  wonder  if  we  can  get  any?" 

"Right  after  dinner,"  replied  Craighead,  "I'll  go 
back  into  the  wood — " 

"I  guess  not,"  said  Mr.  Waddy,  still  more  grimly. 
"Find  Carson  first." 

"That,  my  dear  sir,"  answered  Craighead  jaun 
tily,  "can  await  the  morning.  Mrs.  Graybill's  desire 
to  see  the  points  of  interest,  and — " 

"No,  papa,"  said  Mrs.  Graybill,  with  a  nervous 
little  laugh,  "I  shall  not  stir  till  I've  seen  every 
thing." 

"Angel !"  whispered  Craighead,  pressing  her  arm, 
as  he  helped  her  up  the  steps.  "Keep  him  busy 
while  I  take  a  hike  around." 

Certain  observant  guests  were  interested  a  little 
later  in  seeing  a  slender  man  with  a  voluminous 
scarf  slinking  alongshore,  anxiously  questioning 
every  waterside  character  he  met,  and  bestowing 
tips  at  parting.  They  were  mystified  when  the  short 
old  gentleman,  with  the  wild  and  turbulent  beard, 
set  out  on  a  frenzied  hare-and-hounds  chase  after 
him.  The  mystery  and  interest  grew  intense,  when 
the  cheerful-looking  widow,  who  was  clearly  the  old 
gentleman's  daughter,  emerged  in  unimpeachable 
walking  costume,  overtook  the  young  man  by  a  short 
cut,  and  was  strolling  along  discussing  hermit-crabs 
with  him  when  the  old  gentleman  hove  in  sight, 


242    VIRGINIA    OF   THE    AIR    LANES 

slackened  his  speed,  and  overtook  them  at  a  leisurely 
pace  quite  out  of  keeping  with  his  heat,  perspiration 
and  shortness  of  breath.  The  theory  was  suggested 
that  the  young  man  was  off  his  head,  and  trying 
the  sea  air,  while  his  keepers  saw  to  it  that  he  did 
not  cut  his  throat  with  an  oyster  shell. 

"I  discover,"  said  Mr.  Craighead,  as  they  walked 
back  to  the  hotel,  "that  our  young  conqueror  of  the 
upper  seas  is  not  here.  Confoundedly  odd  of  him 
to  remove  to  his  plantation,  now!  Mechanical 
reasons,  eh,  Mr.  Waddy?" 

"I  guess  so,"  said  Mr.  Waddy;  "an*  o'  course  you 
'don't  know  where  the  plantation  is,  an'  we'll  have  to 
wait  some  more !  Hey  ?" 

"Papa!" 

"Don't  know?"  said  Craighead.  "Don't  know? 
Well,  wait  till  morning.  Steamer  up  Fish  River  at 
nine — plantation  at  noon — long  chase  over.  I  fear 
one  thing,  only :  that  he  has  completed  the  aeronef, 
and  flown  north  to  keep  his  tryst  on  the  front  lawn. 
That  would  amount  to  something  like  a  complete 
joke,  wouldn't  it?" 

"Huh !"  grunted  Waddy.  "Don't  worry ;  you  bet 
I  he  ain't  flew  none." 

If  Craighead's  easy  flow  of  speech  was  somewhat 
impeded  by  his  sense  of  the  uncertainties,  not  to 
say  dangers,  of  his  position,  it  was  worse  when  they 
returned  from  the  plantation,  having  elicited  from 


MR.    CRAIGHEAD    IN    CUSTODY,     243 

the  reluctant  Chloe  the  information  that  Mr.  Theo 
dore,  his  machine,  his  niece,  and  his  niece's  com 
panion,  were  at  Harrod's  camp  on  the  beach,  which 
was  "off  thatterway."  They  jist  went  down  the 
river,  through  a  canal,  across  some  land,  and  then 
they  were  thar.  She  didn't  know  about  no  aero- 
nef,  but  Mr.  Theodo'  was  a-projickin'  around  with 
some  flyin'-machine.  She  reckoned  the  canal  at 
Palmetto  Beach  was  the  one;  but  she  didn't  know. 
This  information,  Mr.  Craighead  declared,  made 
everything  clear;  but  on  returning  to  the  Inn,  Mr. 
Waddy  hired  a  local  officer  to  guard  Mr.  Craig- 
head's  room,  and  began  taking  thought  of  having  a 
warrant  issued  against  him  for  something — Mr. 
Waddy  was  not  quite  clear  for  what. 

Craighead  was  trapped,  lost,  betrayed.  He  sat 
in  his  room  chewing  a  cigar,  and  calculating  the 
distance  to  the  ground.  It  looked  feasible  to  get 
down  a  pillar  of  the  veranda  and  into  the  woods. 
Carson  was  an  impostor,  they  were  guilty  of  fraud, 
there  was  no  aeronef,  and  the  Air  Products  Com 
pany  would  collapse  at  Mr.  Waddy's  defection. 
Life  might  be  sustained  on  shell-fish  alongshore, 
though  the  hermit-crabs  were  not  tempting.  Lift 
ing  the  sash  softly,  he  put  out  a  foot,  determined  to 
run  for  it.  His  bluff  had  been  called,  and  he  had  no 
cards.  He  had  put  too  much  realism  into  his  de 
scription  of  things  down  here.  Nothing  was  to  be 


244    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

gained  by  awaiting  arrest.  The  world  was  wide. 
The  weather  was  warm.  His  foot  touched  the  roof, 
when — 

Ting-a-ling-ting-ting-g-g-g ! 

His  telephone  rang.  Was  his  good  angel  on  the 
wire?  She  was. 

"Is  this  you,  Mr.  Craighead?  You  know  who 
this  is?" 

"Know  these  tones?"  he  gushed.  "Why,  were  I 
in  deepest  hades,  through  geological  depths  of  burn 
ing  marl  and  lignite,  and  other  carboniferous  de 
posits,  I'd  know  them!  What  is  it,  fair  one?" 

"Oh,  nothing!  Only  I  have  just  learned  at  the 
post-office  that  Mr.  Carson  is  back  a  few  miles, 
through  a  canal  and  a  lagoon  and  winding  passages ; 
and  the  man  will  get  us  a  guide  with  a  boat  to  take 
us  through  those  narrows  in  the  morning.  Is  that 
all  right — or  have  I  made  a  mess  of  it  as  a  woman 
always  does?" 

"You  are — my  God,  Caroline,  you  have  saved 
me  from  you  know  not  what !  I  shall  love  you,  love 
you,  love  you — " 

And  the  telephone  was  hung  up. 

Morning  saw  Craighead  himself  again :  so  much 
so  that  he  lectured  Mr.  Waddy  on  the  old  kitchen- 
midden  shell  banks. 

"These  piles  of  shells,"  said  he,  "are  neither  In 
dian  remains,  in  the  ordinary  signification  of  the 


MR.    CRAIGHEAD    IN    CUSTODY     245 

term  Indian,  nor  Aztec,  in  the  proper  sense  of  that. 
I  have  made  a  specialty  of  these  things.  They 
are—" 

"The  boat  is  waitin',  suh,"  said  the  man  with  the 
launch. 

They  went  through  the  canal  in  great  style, 
Craighead  descanting  on  the  influence  of  canals  in 
general,  and  this  one  especially.  It  was  Craighead 
who  leaped  out,  pushed  the  launch  through  a  tight 
squeeze  in  the  narrows,  and  leaped  in  like  a  track- 
meet  man,  rilled  Mrs.  Graybill's  lap  with  lilies,  and 
tried  unsuccessfully  to  engage  her  in  conversation — 
she  being  unusually  pensive.  He  was  the  life  of  the 
party  once  more.  Fate  smiled ;  the  cards  again  ran 
his  way,  and  all  was  well — save  for  the  Graybill 
pensiveness.  Perhaps  his  declaration  over  the  wire 
— but  pshaw !  She  had  saved  him,  and  the  logic  of 
their  lives  was  plain. 

They  skimmed  the  black  waters  of  Freshwater 
Lake,  and  landed  at  the  shelly  hummock.  While  the 
boatman  searched  for  the  path  to  the  Gulf  Beach, 
they  sat  on  the  shell  mound,  fascinated  by  the 
strange  landscape.  The  expanse  of  black  pools  and 
reedy  marshes  between  them  and  the  line  of  surf, 
which  they  could  hear  roaring  beyond  the  dunes, 
was  dotted  with  clumps  of  tall  pines,  and  splotched 
with  scrub-oak  thickets. 

"Those  pines,"  said  Mrs.  Graybill,  "are  like  palms 


246    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

on  coral  islands,  so  tall,  so  slender,  and — why, 
what's  that?" 

Well  might  she  speak  thus;  for,  rising  from  be 
yond  the  dunes,  as  if  from  the  sea,  there  soared  a 
great  something  which  moved  like  a  bird.  With 
enormous  wings  steadily  outstretched,  it  made  in 
land,  like  a  foraging  hawk.  It  swelled  like  a  magic 
ship  as  it  neared  them,  sailing  low  and  dominating 
the  sky  like  a  cloud.  It  came  with  the  most  amazing 
speed,  like  an  eagle  in  mid-swoop,  so  swift,  so  light, 
so  facile  that  all  impression  of  weight  was  abolished, 
and  the  huge  thing  filled  the  mind  with  the  notion 
of  levity — like  a  humming-bird.  It  swerved,  as  it 
neared  the  lake,  and  sheered  round  as  swings  a  gull 
to  pick  up  food.  The  whir  of  machinery  came 
down  to  them  like  the  rush  of  a  thousand  quail 
bursting  from  covert;  as,  with  a  wide  graceful 
curve,  it  departed  as  suddenly  as  it  had  come,  leav 
ing  them  gazing  after  it,  spellbound,  almost  struck 
dumb. 

"Oh,  of  course,"  said  Craighead,  his  hands  trem 
bling,  his  face  white,  "this  man  Carson  is  a  fraud ! 
Oh,  yes,  we  knew  it  all  the  time !  But  you  see  that 
his  aeronef  has  gone  through  the  empty  form  of 
eventuating  all  the  same.  Flying  like  a  frigate 
bird!  Shayne,  charge!  Roll  over,  Silberberg! 
And  don't  dare  move  till  I  say  so !  Oh,  this  is  rot 
ten,  rotten!  I've  got  to  kiss  some  one!  Hooray!'* 


MR.    CRAIGHEAD    IN    CUSTODY    247 

Mrs.  Graybill  was  running  along  the  path  after 
the  guide,  who  was  straining  every  nerve  to  attain 
the  beach  where  the  view  would  be  unimpeded. 
Craighead  ran  after  her,  Mr.  Waddy  puffing  along 
behind,  hopelessly  unplaced. 

"Did  you  see  Carson?"  said  Craighead.  "And 
there  was  a  girl  with  him.  Some  confidence,  to  risk 
a  lady  on  board,  not?" 

"Oh,  let  us  hurry !"  said  she.  "It's  the  most  mar 
velous  thing  in  the  world." 

Emerging  from  the  dunes,  they  saw  the  air-ship 
skimming  off  along  the  line  of  beach  foam,  growing 
smaller  with  a  rapidity  that  spoke  eloquently  of  her 
speed.  Down  the  beach  stood  Mrs.  Stott  and  Cap 
tain  Harrod,  looking  after  the  air-ship  in  amaze 
ment  and  delight.  It  was  the  day  of  the  first  trial. 
The  prophecy  of  the  night  before  was  fulfilled. 
They  "had  her  in  the  air." 

Perhaps  two  miles  she  sped  from  them,  then 
turning  like  a  frightened  heron,  she  swept  seaward 
about  to  the  line  of  the  outer  bar,  and  came  down 
the  wind  like  an  arrow,  Virginia  waving  an  Amer 
ican  flag  over  the  rail,  and  Theodore  swinging  his 
hat.  In  all  three  groups  was  joy.  The  wonderful 
creation  of  Carson's  genius  was  a-wing,  as  he  had 
promised,  her  every  movement  under  perfect  con 
trol. 

Suddenly,  as  she  passed  them,  with  a  manoeuver 


248    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

so  astounding  for  aerial  craft  that  they  could 
scarcely  believe  their  eyes,  she  stopped.  The  sharp 
whir  of  the  beating  wing  sections  told  of  the  sud 
den  reversal  of  their  stroke,  and  of  the  unprece 
dented  phenomenon  of  the  almost  instant  arrest  of 
such  a  machine  in  mid  air.  It  was  an  unnecessary 
strain,  thought  the  captain — Theodore  ought  not  to 
have  done  it 

He  saw  the  reason,  however,  a  moment  later.  A 
black  slimy  nose — the  nose  of  the  Stickleback — 
poked  itself  above  water  right  ahead  of  the  Vir 
ginia.  A  boat  that  looked  stove  and  sinking,  drew 
away  from  her,  with  a  struggling,  gesticulating  fig 
ure  in  it  waving  a  signal  of  distress.  The  slimy 
nose  sank;  and  the  apparent  castaway  was  left  as 
if  to  perish,  unless  rescued  by  the  Virginia. 

Accepting  the  humane  task,  she  reversed  with 
that  boiling  whir  that  had  reached  the  ears  of  those 
on  land.  Lower,  lower,  lower  sank  the  aeronef, 
until  its  car  appeared  almost  to  touch  the  waves. 
The  man  in  distress  seemed  to  throw  something 
like  a  lasso  over  the  nacelle  of  the  air-ship;  and 
the  great  bird  rose  slightly,  as  if  to  be  safe  from  the 
billows.  The  Stickleback  again  peeped  above  the 
waves,  her  manhole  opened,  the  castaway  of  the 
stove  boat  went  down  into  the  submarine. 

It  was  absolutely  beyond  the  power  of  any  one 
looking  on  to  guess  what  was  taking  place.  Why 


MR.    CRAIGHEAD    IN    CUSTODY     249 

had  the  man  made  the  signals  for  help,  if  the  sub 
marine  was  standing  by?  If  the  coming  of  the  sub 
marine  to  his  rescue  was  unexpected,  why  had  he 
not  cast  off  the  line  from  the  aeronef ?  Why — and 
suddenly  they  all  felt  that  something  sinister,  some 
thing  devilish,  was  taking  place.  They  heard  a 
shout  from  Theodore,  a  scream  from  Virginia.  The 
submarine  had  come  awash  again;  and  from  her 
open  manhole  came  the  crack  of  a  pistol — a  pistol 
aimed  at  the  air-ship.  Then  she  sank  again  and  the 
air-ship  was  drawn  downward  by  the  line.  Strug 
gling  toward  land,  hanging  by  the  fatal  thread,  like 
a  trapped  bird,  she  strained  at  her  tether,  while  the 
grim  submarine,  like  a  devil-fish  which  had  thrown 
a  tentacle  about  a  water-fowl,  made  seaward,  out 
into  the  Gulf,  out  into  deep  water,  with  a  purpose 
as  manifest  as  it  was  deadly. 


CHAPTER    XIII 

DEVIL-FISH  VS.  BIRD 

WHEN  the  aeronef  was  run  out  on  her 
ways  by  the  long  shed  in  which  she 
had  been  built,  there  was  a  flutter  of 
expectancy  among  those  so  deeply  concerned  in  her 
flight.  Captain  Harrod  forgot  his  periodical  visits 
to  the  hillock  to  scan  the  offing  for  the  erect  peri 
scope  or  the  fishlike  back  of  the  mysterious  lurking 
submarine,  which,  like  a  shark  awaiting  the  drop 
ping  overboard  of  man  or  other  morsel,  had  haunted 
these  waters  since  the  day  Wizner  had  been  driven 
from  the  camp  as  a  spy.  The  captain  was  a  moving 
kit  of  oil-cans,  wrenches,  spanners,  extra  parts,  odd 
cells  of  battery,  plugs,  screws  and  the  like,  which 
in  his  excitement  he  kept  carrying  about  long  after 
the  machine  was  ready  for  her  flight. 

Mrs.  Stott  excitedly  took  repeated  snapshots  at 
the  Psyche,  and  from  time  to  time  noted  down  her 
thoughts  on  this  crisis  in  history  with  a  stylographic 
pen,  with  which  she  made  careful  carbon  copies,  the 
usefulness  of  which  was  impaired  by  their  being  on 

250 


DEVIL-FISH    VS.    BIRD  251 

the  backs  of  the  originals,  on  account  of  Mrs.  Stott'S 
having  agitatedly  reversed  her  carbon  sheets. 

Virginia  was  a  close  second  to  the  captain  iri  the 
matter  of  aiding  the  inventor,  whose  conscience  was 
therefore  more  tender  for  the  sin  of  having  assumed 
on  very  small  justification  the  relation  of  uncle  to 
his  Psyche,  thrown  under  his  protection  by  a  per 
verse  fate.  She  called  him  "uncle"  with  a  fre 
quency  that  assumed  an  insistence  on  the  avuncular 
relationship;  in  memory  maybe  of  the  tumultuous 
disturbance  of  atmosphere  and  heart-beats  at  the  in 
door  trial  of  the  aeronef.  She  moved  levers,  tried 
sparks,  and  made  herself  useful  about  the  machine 
in  so  many  ways  that  Theodore  promoted  her  to 
the  position  of  first  mate  on  the  spot 

"The  first  mate  always  sails  with  the  ship,  uncle," 
she  suggested. 

"I  thought  you  had  had  enough  of  aeronefs,"  said 
Theodore,  "in  the  wreck  of  Wizner's  helicopter. 
Please  throw  in  the  gyroscope  gear.  Thank  you. 
Don't  they  spin  beautifully?" 

"But  that  was  only  what  Captain  Harrod  calls 
a  chickananny  thing.  This  is  as  stable  as  the  Roc 
herself." 

"Would  you  really  go  on  the  trial  trip?"  he  asked. 

"Try  me,"  said  she;  "I  want  to." 

"You'd  be  worth  a  dozen  of  the  captain,"  replied 
Carson.  "He  hasn't  the  faintest  idea  of  the  prin- 


a*  2    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

ciples  of  the  Virginia,  while  you  could  fly  her  in 
a  week." 

"I  could  now,"  asserted  Virginia.  "The  Virginia 
is  a  simple,  manageable  little  thing,  like  her  name 
sake." 

"If  she  shows  all  her  namesake's  sweet  traits — ," 
began  Theodore. 

"Then  I'm  to  go?" 

"Captain,"  cried  Theodore,  "here's  a  girl  that 
wants  to  ship  as  first  mate." 

"Yes,  suh?" 

"Well,"  went  on  Theodore,  "she  will  not  be  al 
lowed  to  displace  you.  Make  sail,  Captain;  we're 
going!" 

"Did — did — did  you  allow  fo'  me — fo'  me  to 
go?"  asked  the  captain. 

"Why,  certainly,"  replied  Carson.  "Didn't  you 
expect  to  go  ?" 

"No,  suh,"  replied  the  captain.  "Ah  neve'  al 
lowed  to  go  on  any  o'  these  aiah-boats.  Of  co'se, 
ef  you-all  insists,  Ah'll  go  aboa'd  ontil  Ah  fall  out, 
which'll  be  about  fo'  fathom  high.  Ah  git  dizzy- 
like,  an'  can't  he'p  it.  Howseve'  hyah  goes !" 

"Now  you  must  let  me  go !"  Virginia  pleaded, 
with  her  hand  on  his  arm.  "If  the  captain  gets 
dizzy — " 

"Blin',  staggerin',  drunk  dizzy,  Ah  do,"  inter 
posed  Captain  Harrod. 


DEVIL-FISH    VS.    BIRD  253 

"It  would  be  dangerous  and  foolish  to  take  him, 
wouldn't  it,  uncle?" 

Theodore  hesitated.  The  weakness  of  height- 
sickness  and  the  horrible  vertigo  of  those  subject 
to  it  seemed  to  prove  the  captain's  disability,  and 
yet — 

"It  would  be  foolhardy,"  said  he.  "Well,  I  can 
do  it  alone,  if  everything  goes  well.  A  little  help 
might  be  important,  but  I — " 

"I'm  going,  uncle,"  said  Virginia.  "There's  no 
danger.  I  like  it.  Think  of  my  thousands  of  miles 
in  the  Roc." 

"I  can't  consent  to  it,"  said  Theodore,  entering 
the  car.  "There's  a  grave  theoretical  danger.  I 
should  be  blamed — " 

But  Virginia  was  seated  beside  him,  wearing  a 
dress  of  soft  white  wool,  a  close-fitting  little  cap  on 
her  head,  and  carrying  a  jacket  over  her  arm.  Evi 
dently  she  had  come  out  with  the  full  intention  of 
doing  this. 

"My  danger  is  theoretical,"  said  she.  "Yours  in 
going  alone  is  quite  real.  Now,  shall  I  keep  the 
manometer  readings  ?  Oh,  you  haven't  any !  Well, 
then,  the  altimeter-statoscope?" 

"It's  self -registering,"  said  Theodore.  "Really, 
there's  nothing  to  do,  except  in  emergencies,  and — " 

"And  there'll  be  no  emergencies,"  she  cried. 
"Throw  in  the  clutch,  Admiral  of  the  Circumambi- 


254    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

ent  Inane!  You  do  the  work,  and  I'll  play  lady! 
We're  off!" 

"Are  you  willing,"  said  he,  turning  to  her,  "to 
forgive  me,  for  this,  and  everything  I  may  ever 
have  done,  whatever  happens?" 

"Whatever  happens,  or  doesn't  happen,  I  forgive 
you,"  she  cried,  "Throw  in  the  clutch  before  the 
gyroscopes  stop,  and  the  Virginia  gets  brain-fag — 
or  shall  I—?" 

"Just  for  luck,"  said  Theodore,   "you  throw  it 

in." 

She  threw  over  the  lever — rather  too  far — and 
the  wing-sections  started  like  forty  thousand  boys' 
<(buzzes."  A  storm  of  sand  roared  back  from  under 
the  wings,  powdering  Mrs.  Stott's  dress,  and  forcing 
her  to  turn  her  back  to  the  tempest.  The  deafening 
howl,  as  of  many  winds,  lessened  as  the  big  bird 
rose  perpendicularly  from  the  ways,  and  fanned  the 
ground  no  more.  Theodore  turned  on  a  little  more 
speed,  put  the  rudders  aport  to  bring  her  head  to 
the  light  seaward  wind,  and,  as  she  mounted  higher 
and  higher,  he  tried  her  control.  He  pushed  over 
the  lever  that  determined  the  thrust  of  the  driving 
blades,  and  she  shot  in  over  the  dunes  like  a  wild 
thing  until  he  headed  her  back  for  the  Gulf.  Well 
inside  the  bar,  so  that  an  overturn  might  not  mean 
a  drowning,  he  circled  about  in  a  wide  curve,  which' 
he  gradually  narrowed  by  a  more  extreme  use  of  the 


DEVIL-FISH    VS.    BIRD  255 

helm,  until  she  was  spinning  round  and  round  in  an 
orbit,  in  which  the  tips  of  the  inner  wings  were 
almost  stationary  and  "treading"  air  like  a  pausing 
swimmer. 

"That  tests  out  the  balancing  device!"  shouted 
Theodore.  "How's  that?" 

"Aye,  aye,  sir!"  said  Virginia.  "That  do  sure 
test  out  the  balancing  device.  And  if  you  let  her 
chase  her  tail  like  this  much  longer  I'm  going  to 
be  indisposed.  Please  whirl  her  the  other  way  a 
while,  unkie." 

All  fear,  all  uneasiness  even,  had  gone  from  The 
odore's  mind.  He  felt  the  subjection  of  the  machine 
as  a  horseman  feels  the  obedience  of  his  steed.  He 
had  much  to  learn  of  her  navigating  qualities;  but 
the  thing  which  all  aeronefs  had  required — the  mas 
tery  of  balancing — he  had  not  to  learn.  The  gyro 
scopic  brain  in  the  glass  globe  saved  him  this.  To 
every  perturbation  the  machine  presented  the  resist 
ance  and  correction  of  the  automatic  differentials  of 
the  wings.  The  powerful  eight-cylinder  engines 
purred  with  an  almost  perfect  freedom  from  vibra 
tion,  one  to  each  wing,  each  at  the  safhe  flofmal 
speed;  but  to  meet  the  least  lowering  of  any  part, 
the  little  gyroscopes  spun  in  constant  readiness  to 
give  to  the  depressed  area  the  advantage  in  speed 
which  the  operator  could  riot  impart  if  he  chose, 
and  to  shift  the  rudders,  as  a  fish  its  fins. 


2$6    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

"Please  walk  about  the  deck,"  commanded  Theo 
dore.  "See  how  the  rudders  pulsate,  like  a  butter 
fly's  wings,  as  you  go  back  and  forth.  See  it,  see 
it !  It  looks  alive !" 

Virginia  walked  up  to  her  commander  and  took 
his  hand. 

"From  the  bottom  of  my  heart,"  said  she,  "I  con 
gratulate  you.  You  are  a  great  man,  Theodoje 
Carson." 

"Thank  you,  my  dearest,"  said  Theodore,  lifting 
her  hand  to  his  lips.  "It  is  all  yours,  you  know, 
yours !" 

Virginia  withdrew  her  hand  and  walked  forward. 
They  were  flying  higher  now,  and  she  could  see  the 
pine  woods  far  inland,  with  their  square  patches  of 
plowed  fields,  their  white  houses  behind  the  great 
green  globes  of  the  china  trees.  The  Freshwater 
Lakes  lay  almost  under  their  feet,  one  beyond  the 
other  like  a  string  of  beads ;  and  all  about  them  was 
the  immense  marsh,  the  haunt  of  water-fowl  and 
alligator,  mottled  with  pools  picked  out  in  white 
with  lilies.  To  the  west  lay  the  blue  waters  of  the 
Lagoon,  its  farther  beach  a  dozen  miles  away,  lost 
in  amethystine  haze,  its  nearer  foreshore  glimmer 
ing  with  columned  villas  and  hotels,  its  surface 
dotted  with  the  sails  of  yachts  and  laced  with  the 
wakes  of  popping  motor  boats.  Over  the  land  be 
yond  glimmered  the  waters  of  Mobile  Bay.  The 


DEVIL-FISH    VS.    BIRD  357 

i 

mooring  balloon  at  Fort  Morgan  was  almost  lost  in 
the  white  haze  of  spray  from  the  twenty  miles  of 
breaking  combers,  and  the  Sand  Island  light  split 
the  far  western  horizon  like  a  spike  driven  up 
through  from  below  to  hold  the  Gulf  in  place.  The 
sun  blazed  overhead,  but  the  breeze  was  cool ;  and 
the  Virginia  cut  through  it  so  swiftly  that,  except 
in  the  protected  lee  of  the  wedge-shaped  wind 
shields,  she  was  swept  from  bow  to  stern  by  some 
thing  like  half  a  gale.  Far  over  the  northwest 
soared  a  great  aeronat,  silver-white  as  if  covered 
with  tinfoil. 

"I  wonder  if  that  isn't  the  Roc?"  queried  Vir 
ginia. 

Theodore  was  too  busy  with  his  levers  and  wheels, 
to  look. 

"If  it  is,"  said  he,  "and  she  comes  about  this 
place,  we'll  show  her  what  real  aviation  is.  What's 
that  over  on  the  Freshwater  Lake?  A  party?" 

"There's  a  launch,"  replied  Virginia,  "and  three 
men  and  a  woman  coming  across  to  our  beach." 

"Excursionists,  probably,"  answered  Theodore. 
"Let's  give  them  something  to  remember !" 

It  was  now  that  the  Virginia  made  her  swift 
swoop  across  the  isthmus  to  the  lake,  hovered  over 
the  heads  of  Craighead  and  his  companions,  and 
bore  off  to  the  eastward  like  a  homing  pigeon. 
Those  on  the  ship  could  not  recognize  their  newly 


258    VIRGINIA    OF.   THE   AIR    LANES 

arrived  friends,  nor  hear  Craighead's  wild  shout  of 
triumph.  They  were  far  down  toward  Perdido 
Bay,  flying  like  a  driven  leaf,  Virginia  gazing  at 
Carson  with  something  like  fear  in  the  admiration 
which  now  possessed  her,  as  he  tried  every  combina 
tion  of  factors  in  flight  which  he  could  conjure  up. 

He  turned  and  surprised  her  look;  she  bore  de 
tection  calmly,  but  with  some  heightening  of  color. 

"She's  as  near  perfect  as  a  machine  can  be,"  said 
he;  "more  nearly  so  than  I  ever  hoped.  You  see, 
I've  had  so  much  time  to  work  things  out  while  I 
was  waiting  for  the  money.  .You  don't  know  what 
this  means  to  me,  Psyche." 

"I  believe  I  can  partly  guess,"  said  she.  "Money 
— that's  something — " 

"But  an  uncertainty,"  observed  Theodore.  "The 
power  of  the  Shayne  people  may  ruin  me,  commer 
cially." 

"Maybe,"  said  she,  ''after  living  with  the  Shaynes 
as  I  did,  I  can  understand  that  better  than  you  can. 
But  they  can't  take  from  you  the  glory  of  achiev 
ing  what  the  race  has  been  trying  so  long,  and 
dreaming  of  so  much  longer.  You're  a  great  man, 
uncle !  That's  the  real  thing." 

"It  was,"  said  he,  "but  it  isn't  now.  Can't  you 
understand,  mate,  that  there  may  be  some  one  living 
whose  approval  means  more  than  any  fame?  I 
want  you  to." 


DEVIL-FISH    VS.    BIRD  259 

Now,  there  is  nothing  in  the  word  "mate,"  ap 
plied  to  the  second  in  command,  that  need  call  the 
blush  to  the  cheek,  ordinarily  speaking;  but  when 
the  word  is  uttered  in  the  most  meaning  way,  and 
emphasized  by  a  long  look  into  the  mate's  eyes  out 
of  two  languishing  orbs  that  speak  odes  and  sonnets 
and  rondeaus,  a  young  person,  however  experienced 
in  the  ways  of  eyes  and  voices,  may  possibly  blush. 
If  she  does,  she  may  turn  her  eyes  downward ;  and, 
if  looking  over  the  rail  of  the  air-ship,  she  may  see 
any  extraordinary  thing  below,  and  make  a  diver 
sion  by  calling  attention  to  it. 

"Oh,  look,  look!  said  Virginia.  "There's  some 
one  in  the  water!" 

Below  floated  the  half-collapsed  and  sinking  go- 
devil  of  a  submarine.  Beside  it  lay  a  great  blotch 
of  darkness,  so  symmetrical  that  Theodore  was  im 
pressed  with  the  sudden  idea  that  it  was  a  subma 
rine  rather  than  a  patch  of  dark  sand.  A  man  on 
the  derelict  was  struggling,  shouting,  and  waving  a 
white  cloth  as  if  in  distress.  If  he  could  not  swim, 
he  was  doomed.  Theodore's  eyes  flashed.  Here 
was  a  test  of  the  Virginia  for  which  he  had  laid  no 
plans,  and  he  welcomed  it.  He  reversed  the  thrust 
of  the  wing  propellers ;  and  in  an  instant  they  were 
fighting  the  air  with  all  the  power  of  the  mighty 
engines.  The  passengers  felt  their  bodies  sway  for 
ward  with  the  momentum,  as  the  Virginia  slowed 


260   VIRGINIA    OF   THE   AIR   LANES 

up,  halted,  and  moved  astern;  and  as  accurately  as 
if  he  had  had  years  of  practice,  Carson  brought 
her  to,  over  the  struggling  man,  and  lowered  her 
slowly,  slowly,  toward  the  swells  which  rose  to  meet 
her,  until  the  line  thrown  over  by  Carson  dabbled 
in  the  water  by  the  castaway's  side. 

"Can  you  climb  up?"  cried  Theodore.  "I  don't 
dare  come  much  lower." 

"For  Christ's  sake,"  called  the  man,  "bring  her 
down  a  foot  or  so !  I'm  too  weak  to  climb !" 

"Cheer  up!"  called  Theodore.  "It's  risky,  but 
I'll  try." 

The  man,  who  looked  downward  from  weak 
ness,  or  as  if  to  conceal  his  features,  was  appar 
ently  in  great  distress,  and  in  terror  from  the  fact 
that  his  collapsible  skiff  was  half  deflated,  as  if 
by  the  bursting  of  her  air-chambers.  If  he  was  to 
be  saved  there  was  no  time  to  be  lost;  so  thought 
Carson  as  he  depressed  the  Virginia  more  and  more, 
holding  her  stationary  by  a  slight  windward  thrust 
of  the  wing-blades,  like  a  swimmer  who  meets  the 
current  by  a  down-stream  kick,  a  feat  quite  beyond 
the  power  of  any  other  air-ship ;  and  speaking  to  the 
man  in  the  water,  as  well  as  to  him  in  the  air,  the 
triumphant  success  of  the  new  machine.  Wizner 
set  his  teeth  in  a  fierce  determination  to  put  both 
man  and  ship  out  of  the  field  at  once.  The  thing 
became  immense  to  him,  swelling,  as  the  astounding 


DEVIL-FISH    VS.    BIRD  261 

behavior  of  the  Virginia  grew  upon  him.  He  was 
the  sole  custodian  of  the  secret  of  her  construction, 
save  for  Carson.  If  he  could  drown  her,  and  master 
the  secret  of  the  glass  globe,  he  could  rebuild  her, 
make  his  terms  with  Shayne,  be  the  greatest  in  his 
line. 

The  lower  works  of  the  air-ship  descended  almost 
to  his  head,  and  Wizner,  glancing  upward,  saw  Vir 
ginia  looking  down  and  singing  out  their  aerial 
"soundings"  to  Carson.  The  swell  lifted  Wizner  as 
the  Virginia  sank  to  her  lowest;  and  he  seized  the 
nacelle  with  fierce  energy,  drew  himself  up  into  the 
truss-work,  threaded  a  steel  chain  through  an  open 
ing  in  the  structure,  and  dropped  back  into  the  water 
holding  the  chain  in  his  hand.  It  ran  around  the 
aluminum  beam  with  a  sharp,  rasping,  startling 
rattle. 

"He's  fallen  in !"  cried  Virginia.  "He  climbed  up 
under,  and  fell  off !  Oh,  he'll  drown,  he'll  drown !" 

Theodore  looked  over  the  side.  A  small  double 
chain  ran  down  from  the  air-ship,  its  ends  moving 
about  in  a  most  mystifying  manner  in  the  sea.  And 
as  he  looked  in  astonishment,  the  dark  blotch  of 
sand  rose  to  the  surface,  and  defined  itself  as  the 
rounded  top  of  the  Stickleback,  on  the  black  hull  of 
which  sat  Wizner  blowing  brine  from  his  mouth,  his 
head  shining  with  water.  The  manhole  opened, 
Wizner  snapped  the  chain  into  a  ring,  slipped  into 


262    VIRGINIA    OF   THE    AIR    LANES 

the  submarine,  and  reappeared  with  something  small 
and  flat  in  his  hand. 

"I'll  fix  you,  you  damned  whelp !"  he  yelled.  "I'll 
show  you  what  it  means  to  choke  me !  Take  that !" 

He  aimed  at  Carson,  fired,  and  the  bullet  sang 
away  into  the  sky.  Theodore  seized  Virginia  in 
his  arms,  and  drew  her  down  into  the  bottom  of 
the  car,  where  they  lay  panting  in  each  other's  arms, 
panic-stricken. 

"I  must  put  the  ship  out  of  range !"  cried  Carson, 
leaping  to  the  lever,  and  throwing  on  full  speed 
upward  and  ahead. 

She  rose  like  a  feather — for  just  a  moment,  and 
then  she  swung  about  like  a  kite  with  its  string 
fouled,  anchored  by  some  devilish  contrivance,  of 
the  nature  of  which  the  bewildered  Carson  could  not 
guess.  He  stepped  to  the  side  again  and  looked 
over.  The  Virginia  hung  some  thirty  yards  above 
the  water,  and  straining  backward  and  downward 
ran  the  steel  chain  looped  through  her  works  and 
fastened  by  both  ends  to  the  submarine.  The  harsh, 
raucous  laugh  of  Wiznef  rose  with  horrid  signifi 
cance  from  the  Stickleback's  manhole,  which  was 
again  above  water  and  open. 

"Don't  be  in  a  hurry!"  he  shouted.  "Stick  around 
with  us  a  while !  We're  going  out  where  it's  deep ! 
Come  in,  the  water's  fine!  Got  your  bathing  suits? 
If  you  hain't  you'll  have  to  let  us  lend  you  some. 


DEVIL-FISH    VS.    BIRD  263 

Sorry  to  incommode  the  lady,  but  we're  goin'  out 
where  that  chain  won't  put  you  up  so  high  out  o' 
water.  When  she  draws  short,  telephone  down. 
Don't  yell,  for  there  won't  no  one  hear  you.  There 
won't  no  one  hear  either  of  you  again  in  this  world, 
except  just  you  two.  By-by!  See  you  in  Davy 
Jones' — damn  you!" 

And  with  this,  as  if  pulled  down  from  below,  the 
man  vanished  into  the  dark  interior,  the  manhole 
closed,  and  the  chain,  like  a  line  taken  by  some 
titanic  fish,  started  out  to  sea.  The  air-ship  had  been 
captured  by  the  submarine!  The  mechanical  devil 
fish  was  not  running  very  deep;  her  round  deck 
rose  awash  sometimes ;  but  with  the  manholes  closed, 
and  with  no  sign,  save  the  erection  of  her  periscope, 
that  she  was  more  than  an  inert  mass  of  steel,  she 
swam  on,  remorseless,  silent,  the  evil  element  in  a 
battle  unprecedented  and  undreamed  of. 

Still  seated  where  Theodore  had  placed  her,  Vir 
ginia  looked  at  him  in  questioning  terror.  He  was 
white  and  horrified,  but  he  was  managing  the  Vir 
ginia  with  a  set  determination,  which  rose  with  and 
met  the  danger,  to  save  her  and  her  freight  if  pos 
sible.  At  this  moment  he  was  depressing  her  in  her 
flight  so  as  to  get  all  possible  slack  in  the  chain,  so 
that  by  a  sudden  upward  rush  he  might  break  the 
tether.  Once,  twice,  thrice  he  did  this;  but  the 
chain  held. 


264    VIRGINIA    OF   THE    AIR    LANES 

"What  is  it,  Theodore?    What  is  it?"  said  she. 

"I  don't  know,"  said  he;  "but  I  think  it's  the 
end!" 

He  was  not  looking  at  her — he  was  looking  up 
ward,  like  a  man  seeking  for  some  sort  of  inspira 
tion.  His  expression  seemed  to  say  that  there  was 
work  to  do ;  and  as  long  as  every  tick  of  the  watch 
might  make  the  difference  between  death  and  life, 
he  had  no  time  for  her  questions.  She  stood  look 
ing  out  over  the  great  desolate  sea,  and  back  to  the 
receding  shore  on  which  she  saw  a  group  of  forms — 
the  forms  of  their  friends.  Nothing  could  seem 
more  helpless.  They  were  chained  to  their  fate — a 
dark  fiend  of  a  machine  that  was  taking  them  out 
to  sea,  to  deeps  profound  enough  to  drown  them. 
It  might  be  an  hour — it  might  be  the  next  moment. 
The  immitigable  cruelty  of  the  plan  by  which  they 
had  been  snared  took  away  all  hope  of  its  abandon 
ment  by  any  softening  of  the  demons  who  had  de 
vised  it,  down  in  that  black,  round  hull. 

Carson  stood  over  her  with  a  pistol  in  his  hand. 
She  looked  up  in  wonder,  thinking  of  those  cases  in 
which  men  kill  the  women  they  love,  rather  than 
allow  them  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  ruffians. 

"Virginia,  can  you  shoot?"  he  asked. 

She  took  the  pistol  with  the  air  of  one  who  knows 
how  to  use  it  and  nodded  her  head. 

"I  shall  have  to  ask  you  to  protect  me,"  said  he, 


DEVIL-FISH    VS.    BIRD  265 

"while  I  try  to  cut  that  chain.  They  can  see  with 
their  periscope  what  I'm  doing,  and  when  it  is  nec 
essary  they  will  come  up  into  the  open  and  fire.  By 
pulling  out  to  sea,  I  can  get  her  at  an  angle  that  will 
force  them  into  the  open  to  shoot.  I'll  do  that. 
When  the  manhole  opens,  shoot  into  it.  Keep  them 
back.  If  you  should  hit  one  of  them,  don't  let  it 
trouble  you — you — " 

"I  shall  kill  one  of  them  if  I  can,"  said  she. 
"Never  mind  that!  Tell  me  the  things  to  do !" 

"I  shall  take  the  pliers  and  a  file,"  said  he.  "I 
don't  think  the  pliers  will  cut  it.  It  will  take  quite 
a  while  to  file  it.  Even  if  I  can  hang  on  that  long, 
I  may  be  too  weak  to  climb  back.  I  don't  know 
that  I  can  do  it,  anyhow.  You  must  take  us  back 
to  land  if  I  cut  her  free." 

"I  will,"  said  she.  "Never  fear,  I  can  do  it.  I 
know  every  lever." 

"There's  another  thing,"  said  he.  "We  came  out 
with  only  a  little  gas.  If  we  go  much  farther,  we 
haven't  enough  to  get  ashore  with.  I  shall  have  to 
be  the  judge  of  that  for  you.  I  think  I  could  soar 
her  in  with  the  aeroplane  set  of  the  blades,  but  I 
don't  know.  I  think  we  had  better  fly  low  going 
back,  and  not  waste  fuel  in  vertical  lift.  That  takes 
power.  Keep  her  gliding  about  a  hundred  feet  from 
the  water;  but  if  you  want  the  aeroplane  set,  this 
is  the  way  to  fix  it." 


266   VIRGINIA    OF   THE   AIR    LANES 

With  a  swift  movement  he  showed  her  the  way 
to  manage  the  mechanism1.  Then  he  required  her  to 
tell  him  how  to  tlirh,  how  to  rise,  how  to  fall,  how 
to  vary  the  speed,  how  to  determine  the  thrust  of 
the  blades.  He  lashed  a  pair  of  pliers  about  his  neck 
with  a  lanyard,  thrust  a  couple  of  files  into  his 
pockets,  took  off  his  boots,  his  coat  and  waistcoat, 
pulled  his  little  cap's  visor  far  down  over  his  eyes 
to  shelter  them  from  the  glare;  and  stepped  to  the 
side. 

"You  may  get  ashore,"  said  he>  "while  I  may  not. 
If  so,  good-by,  and  God  bless  you,  dearest!" 

She  threw  her  arms  about  his  neck  and  kissed 
him  over  and  over  again — he  felt  her  warm  tears 
on  his  lips.  But  he  controlled  himself  sternly,  al 
most  fiercely. 

"Don't  cry !"  said  he.  "Clear  your  eyes,  and  shoot 
straight !  Good-by !" 

She  stepped  to  the  rail  and  looked  fixedly  at  the 
black  shadow  like  a  gigantic  fish  that  represented 
the  submarine.  Carson  had  disappeared  over  the 
side,  in  a  terrifying  hand-under-hand  descent,  in 
which  he  swung  over  the  swelling  waves,  until  he 
reached  the  truss-work  of  the  nacelle,  where  he 
citing1,  now,  trying  his  pliers  on  the  chain.  The  sub 
marine  seemed  in  no  way  interested,  at  first;  but 
presently  her  black  shadow  grew  more  distinct,  the 
round  deck  broke  water;  and  as  the  manhole  opened, 


He  dropped  back  into  the  darkness       Page  267 


DEVIL-FISH    VS.    BIRD  267 

Wizner  appeared  and  aimed  at  Carson,  coolly,  as  at 
a  target  Too  hastily,  Virginia  fired;  the  bullet 
struck  the  edge  of  the  deck  with  a  vicious  spat.  Wiz- 
ner's  pistol  spoke,  his  bullet  striking  metal,  flew 
singing  away,  and  the  girl  replied  with  the  third 
shot  of  this  strange  duel.  She  braced  herself  against 
the  rail,  aimed  conscientiously  at  the  middle  of  the 
mark  presented  by  the  villain  below,  and  fired — fired 
with  the  curious  certitude  the  marksman  feels  when 
he  is  making  a  good  shot.  Wizner  had  just  lifted 
his  arm  to  fire  again ;  but  his  hand  fell  as  if  struck 
down  by  a  giant's  blow;  he  dropped  back  into  the 
darkness  like  a  shot  woodchuck,  the  manhole  closed, 
and  the  submarine  went  on  toward  deep  water  as 
grimly  as  before. 

"All  right  down  here!"  sang  out  Carson.  "How 
are  you  on  deck?" 

"All  right  here,"  said  she.  "Do  you  think  they'll 
shoot  any  more?" 

"No,"  said  Theodore.  "But  watch  the  manhole 
just  the  same.  I  shall  Have  to  file  the  chain.  The 
pliers  won't  do !" 

The  girl  waited.  It  was  well  for  her  that  she  had 
something  to  do ;  otherwise  her  reason  might  have 
given  way.  She  stood  by  the  rail  with  the  pistol  in 
her  hand,  listening  to  the  "screek,  screek"  of  the  file 
on  the  chain.  Suddenly  this  sound  stopped,  and  she 
heard  Carson  calling. 


268    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

"They've  hove  to,"  said  he.  "I  think  they're  go 
ing  to  try  drowning  us  here.  Don't  lose  control  of 
yourself — remember,  this  is  a  fight,  and  we  aren't 
whipped  yet.  Do  you  hear?" 

"Yes,"  said  she.  "But  it's  so  awful !  So  awful ! 
If  you  were  only  up  here  where  you  could —  Tell 
me  what  to  do !  Tell  me  what  to  do !" 

"Do  you  see  how  the  chain  shortens?"  asked  Car 
son.  "She's  going  down.  If  the  water's  deep  enough 
she  can  drown  us,  unless  we  can  overcome  her  grav 
ity.  Turn  the  index  so  as  to  show  a  dead-down 
thrust  of  the  blades — and  then  full  power  on  the 
last  speed.  It  will  take  fuel,  but  it's  the  only  way ! 
Hurry!" 

The  air-ship  sank,  sank,  nearer  and  nearer  to  the 
water;  but  without  waiting  to  learn  how  the  girl 
was  carrying  out  his  orders,  Carson  again  attacked 
the  chain,  and  the  shrill  "screek"  of  the  file  greeted 
Virginia's  ears  again,  as  she  turned  the  indicator, 
and  threw  on  the  power.  As  they  had  never  done 
before,  the  great  engines  purred,  the  wing-blades 
trod  the  air  with  a  terrific  roar;  but  with  remorse 
less  suction-like  force  the  submarine  drew  her  down 
closer,  closer  to  the  water,  and  she  seemed  lost.  The 
sinking  was  slower,  now;  but  nevertheless  more  and 
more  of  the  chain  disappeared  in  the  sea  every  mo 
ment  Virginia  looked  and  despaired.  The  waves 
were  so  terrifyingly  near;  death  in  their  cold 


DEVIL-FISH    VS.    BIRD  269 

depths  seemed  so  unthinkably  horrible  .  .  .  she 
bowed  her  face  in  her  hands.  The  "screek,  screek, 
screek"  of  the  file  kept  on  with  the  regularity 
of  a  machine.  Carson  was  at  work.  He  might  be 
drowned;  but  when  he  went  under,  he  would  go 
fighting.  He  was  a  man!  And  suddenly  Virginia 
felt  herself  strengthened  and  comforted.  Death 
was  due  every  one  at  some  time.  Why  not  now? 
Why  whimper  and  shrink  from  what  must  be  some 
time  anyhow  ? 

She  stepped  to  the  side,  and  called  to  him. 

"I  think,"  said  she,  "that  we  are  doomed.  Is  there 
anything  I  can  do?" 

"You  might  advance  the  spark,"  said  he.  "Not 
much.  Just  the  least  trifle  .  .  .  Yes,  I  reckon 
they've  got  us." 

She  sprang  to  the  machinery  and  did  this  last 
thing  ordered  by  her  commander — did  it  with  un- 
shaking  hands,  as  a  soldier  might  take  up  the 
weapon  of  his  comrade  killed  at  his  post.  By  the 
faintest  trifle  she  advanced  the  spark;  and  went  to 
the  side  to  see  the  effect.  They  were  lower,  now, 
and  the  truss-work  in  which  Carson  hung  must  be 
in  or  near  the  crest  of  the  swells;  but  the  "screek" 
of  the  file  went  on — not  so  strong,  perhaps,  but 
steadily  still,  the  paean  of  the  unconquerable  spirit 
of  the  man  clinging  to  the  truss-work  beneath  her. 
It  was  grand.  It  was  immense.  Her  spirit  rose  to 


270   VIRGINIA    OF.   THE    AIR    LANES 

the  occasion,  rose  to  the  prosaic  "screek,  screek"  of 
a  file  in  a  hand  that  was  dabbled  in  the  waves  at 
every  lifting  swell  of  the  stolid  ocean  that  rolled  on 
just  the  same  where  its  prey  dangled  within  the  lap 
ping  of  its  tongue,  and  out  yonder  where,  perhaps, 
no  man  had  been  since  creation's  morn. 

"Theodore!" 

The  file  stopped  for  a  minute. 

"Keep  her  as  she  is,"  said  he.  "We've  got  the 
submarine  stopped.  I've  got  the  chain  about  filed 
through — but — I'm  a  little  tired.  Keep  her  as  she 
is — for  just  a  little  while!" 

Again  the  file  began  its  work.  The  immediate 
danger  was  over;  but  both  the  man  below  and  the 
girl  in  the  car  knew  that  the  terrific  consumption 
of  gas  in  the  engines  made  the  seconds  too  precious 
for  use  in  conversation.  A  minute's  supply  of  gas, 
ten  seconds'  supply,  one  second's  supply,  might  save 
their  lives  in  the  home  stretch,  when  the  chain 
should  be  filed  through,  and  they  should  take  their 
flight  toward  land — to  make  triumphant  landing 
after  this  deadly  peril,  or  to  sink  in  the  waves  from 
which  they  were  now  fighting  to  save  themselves. 
The  roar  of  the  machinery  filled  the  air  with  tem 
pest;  the  wind  from  the  wing-blades  driven  down 
on  the  water  set  it  boiling  like  a  whirlpool ;  one  mo 
ment  the  straining  submarine  drew  them  down  by 
a  link  or  two  of  the  chain ;  the  next  the  struggling 


DEVIL-FISH    VS.    BIRD  271 

air-ship  lifted  the  submarine  up  an  inch  or  so  from 
her  dark  lair  in  the  depths.  At  last,  at  the  very 
height  of  the  fierce  struggle,  the  air-ship  shot  up 
ward  with  the  jingle  of  dropping  chains,  a  worn 
file  fell  into  the  foam  of  a  white-capped  wave,  and 
the  girl  leaped  to  the  levers  in  obedience  to  the 
voice  of  Carson  telling  her  to  make  haste,  for  God's 
sake,  and  set  the  wings  for  a  forward  flight;  to  cut 
the  speed  down  one-third,  and  to  steer  straight  for 
shore. 

She  obeyed.  They  had  risen  to  a  height  of  per 
haps  two  hundred  feet  before  her  inexperienced 
hands  could  change  the  propellers ;  and  Carson  told 
her  to  keep  the  height.  She  asked  if  she  might  not 
use  a  little  higher  speed,  but  he  said  no,  economy 
in  gas  was  in  the  moderate  speed.  "Keep  her  as  she 
is,"  said  he. 

"Can  you  come  up?"  she  asked.  "Have  you  the 
strength?" 

She  asked  this  two  or  three  times,  and  got  no 
reply.  Suddenly  she  screamed  with  the  fear  that 
he  had  fainted,  and  as  if  aroused  from  a  stupor  he 
asked  her  to  advance  the  spark  a  little,  and,  when 
she  had  done  so,  to  retard  it  again. 

"Are  you  in  danger?"  she  asked.  "Can  you 
hang  on?" 

"I'm  all  right,"  said  he,  "only  my  hands.  Can 
you  see  shore?  Is  it  far?" 


272    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

The  shore  was  rising  fast,  she  told  him.  It  was 
not  so  very  far,  now,  but  the  gas  was  almost  gone. 
Could  she  do  anything?  Was  there  nothing  to  be 
done  to  eke  it  out  so  as  to  bring  them  a  little  closer 
before  they  fell  into  the  sea?  Could  he  do  any 
thing  if  he  were  in  the  car? 

"Keep  her  as  she  is,"  said  he.  "When  we  get 
close  enough  so  she  can  glide  in,  I'll  lighten  her." 

"How  lighten  her?"  she  asked. 

"It's  easy,"  said  he,  "from  down  here.  Keep 
her  as  she  is !" 

The  dunes  lifted  white  in  the  sun,  shimmering  in 
the  heat,  swelling  as  the  Virginia  darted  nearer  and 
nearer  to  shore.  The  horror-stricken  people  on  the 
beach  saw  her  coming,  like  an  albatross  before  a 
gale.  The  girl  on  the  deck  prayed  fervently  for 
the  miraculous  renewing  of  the  little  cruse  of  oil 
from  which  was  made  the  gas  that  kept  them  up — 
and  the  man  underneath  hung  on  grimly,  awaiting 
the  cessation  of  stroke,  which  would  prove  that  the 
mixture  which  was  the  breath  of  the  life  of  the 
great  engines  was  exhausted  at  last.  Once,  twice, 
thrice,  came  the  halting  in  the  machinery  that  was 
the  death  rattle  of  the  motors. 

"Virginia!"  said  he. 

"Yes,"  she  replied. 

"Fix  the  gliding  mechanism !    The  gas  is  done !" 

"Yes,  Theodore!" 


DEVIL-FISH    VS.    BIRD  273 

"Turn  her  nose  down  a  little.  With  momentum 
enough,  she'll  make  it  from  here.  And  when  she 
gets  within  those  breakers,  if  she  is  less  than  twenty- 
five  feet  high,  tilt  her  up  again  a  little.  Do  you 
understand?" 

"Yes !    I'll  do  it!    Anything  more,  Theodore?" 

"No — only  remember  what  you  said  about  for 
giving  me,  if  I'd  let  you  come  with  me.  Remember, 
turn  her  prow  up  a  little  when  she  nears  shore. 
You'll  make  it,  dear — you'll  make  it!" 

Mrs.  Graybill,  standing  on  the  shore,  noted  with 
the  rest  the  new  motion  of  the  air-ship  when  the 
engines  were  stopped,  and  wondered  why  it  behaved 
so  queerly;  and  it  was  her  eye  alone  that  detected 
a  man's  form  clinging  to  the  truss-work  under  the 
car.  This,  she  thought,  was  the  person  they  had 
tried  to  rescue.  She  wondered  when  she  saw  the 
girl  managing  the  machinery,  which  was  so  oper 
ated  as  to  send  the  aeronef  on  a  long,  long,  swift 
swoop  down  toward  the  land.  In  across  the  line  of 
breakers  she  came,  the  very  swiftness  of  her  descent 
making  for  her  peril,  as  she  neared  the  waves. 

And  then  Mrs.  Graybill  screamed.  She  had  seen 
the  man  under  the  car  deliberately  let  go  his  hold 
and  drop  into  the  water.  The  lightened  car,  tilted 
slightly  upward  now,  as  Virginia  obeyed  orders, 
soared  slowly  onward,  rising  a  little  as  her  mo-, 
mentum  brought  the  great  gliding  surfaces  against 


274   VIRGINIA    OF   THE   AIR    LANES 

the  air,  and  then,  clearing  the  foam  of  the  surf,  she 
softly  settled  on  the  sand,  with  her  stern  rudder, 
like  the  tail  of  a  great  dead  bird,  washed  by  the 
hungry  waves  which  she  had,  as  by  a  miracle,  es 
caped.  And  rowing  in  from  the  offing  where  he 
had  gone  in  his  fishing  boat  in  the  wild  and  im 
probable  belief  that  he  might  help  his  master,  came 
Captain  Harrod,  with  a  white-faced  young  man 
lying  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat,  whose  fingers 
dripped  blood  from  the  remorseless  work  of  the  file ; 
while  from  the  air-ship  they  took  the  senseless  form 
of  a  girl  who  had  risen  above  the  fear  of  death,  and 
by  sheer  pluck  had  brought  the  Virginia  into  port. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

A  CAPTURE  AND  AN  ESCAPE 

ALLOW  me  to  suggest,"  observed  Craig- 
head,  as  the  gentlemen  of  the  party  at 
Harrod's  fishing  camp  sat  in  lounging  atti 
tudes  on  various  articles  used  as  chairs,  mostly  jet 
sam  and  flotsam  of  the  Gulf,  "that  in  perfecting  the 
first  really  practicable  flying-machine,  we  have  set 
in  motion  social  and  economic  reactions  that  will 
go  on  and  on  far  beyond  the  ken  of  those  who, 
unlike  myself,  have  not  made  a  specialty  of  them. 
As  that  submarine  dragged  the  Virginia  out  to  sea 
yesterday,  we  all  thought  it  was  the  last  of  Carson, 
M.  A.,  didn't  we?" 

"It  looked  bad  to  me,"  said  Mr.  Waddy. 

"Ah  sho'  thought,"  observed  Captain  Harrod, 
"that  Miste'  Theodo'  an'  Miss  V'ginny  hed  gone  off 
togethe'  to  stay." 

Mr.  Carson,  sitting  on  a  cast-up  half  barrel, 
picked  at  his  bandaged  fingers,  embarrassed. 

"I  didn't  see  much  hope  of  escape,"  said  he. 

"There  wasn't  any,"  replied  Craighead.  "Your 
275 


276   VIRGINIA    OF   THE    AIR    LANES 

escape  is  due  to  your  lack  of  logic,  fair  knight.  Any 
one  with  a  lick  of  sense  would  have  seen  and  ac 
cepted  the  inevitable.  But  that's  another  work  of 
fiction.  I  am  endeavoring  to  point  out,  while  break 
fast  for  seven  gets  itself  with  utensils  for  two,  that 
the  fertile  and  fecund  mind  gets  hints  of  connota 
tions  rich  with  wealth  and  progress  from  the  lower 
ing  brow  of  tragedy  herself — the  lowering  brow  of 
tragedy,"  repeated  Mr.  Craighead,  as  if  to  give  the 
class  a  chance  to  note  the  phrase  in  their  books. 

Captain  Harrod,  to  whom  Craighead  was  an  ob 
ject  of  superstitious  wonder,  leaned  awry  to  gaze 
more  fixedly  into  his  face;  and  sat  fascinated,  with 
his  fingers  crossed,  as  Craighead  went  on  with  his 
very  practical  suggestions. 

"As  to  the  Stickleback"  went  on  Craighead,  "if 
the  Stickleback  it  was — " 

"It  sho'  wus,"  interposed  the  captain.  "She's 
the  on'y  sub  as  has  the  manhole  hatch  hinged  by — " 

"Assuming  the  fact,"  resumed  Craighead,  "to  be 
as  stated,  the  point  is,  that  when  she  hooked  the 
Virginia  and  started  for  deep  water,  an  idea  came 
to  me  which  will  revolutionize  tarpon  fishing,  as 
completely  as  our  monopoly — hatched  from  the  egg 
of  a  legal  maxim  found  by  me,  in  a  borrowed  copy 
of  Broom,  a  maxim  on  which  every  law  student  of 
the  past  has  stubbed  his  toe  with  no  idea  of  its, 
bearing  on  aviation — will  revolutionize  aeronautics. 


A    CAPTURE    AND    AN    ESCAPE     277 

Under  present  rules,  the  fisherman  goes  forth  to 
fish  with  a  launch,  a  rod,  a  reel,  a  hook,  and  a 
mullet  for  bait.  When  he  hooks  the  tarpon,  he  has 
the  advantage  in  weight,  the  tarpon,  in  the  lightness 
of  the  tackle.  The  tarpon,  however,  bets  his  life 
against  the  fisherman's  time.  This  is  unsportsman 
like  graft  on  the  fisherman's  part.  It  is  like  taking 
toffee  from  a  tad." 

Craighead  repeated  the  alliterative  phrase  for 
the  benefit  of  the  approaching  Mrs.  Graybill. 

"Taking  toffee  from  a  tad,  copping  candy  from  a 
kid,  filching  fudge  from  a  feeble  filius — " 
>    "Oh,    Mr.    Craighead!"    cried    Mrs.    Graybill. 
"That's  execrable!" 

"So  I  was  endeavoring  to  show,"  replied  Craig- 
head.  "New  rules  for  tarpon  fishing  shall  be  pro 
mulgated.  The  foot-pound  coefficient  of  a  tarpon- 
power  shall  be  dynamometrically  ascertained;  the 
fisherman  must  fish  from  an  aeronef,  bought  of  us, 
by  James!  which  shall  have  just  the  power  of  the 
tarpon.  When  he  hooks  the  fish,  each  party  having 
an  equal  show,  if  he  has  the  skill  and  address,  he 
will  get  the  fish;  otherwise,  the  fish  will  get  him. 
Accurate  records  will  be  kept,  and — " 

"But  excuse  me,  Miste'  Craighead!"  said  Captain 
Harrod.  "S'pose  the  man  fishin'  thataway  gits 
aholt  of  a  fish  thet's  heaviah  than  the  ev-rige?" 

"That,"  said  Mr.   Craighead,  "would  be  a  risk 


278    VIRGINIA   OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

of  the  sport,  if  the  tarpon  should  have  the  bad  taste 
to  use  his  advantage.  But  victory  for  the  fisher 
man  would  be  worth  something  recording;  and  he 
should  be  given  higher  markings;  and  if  the  man 
lost,  the  tarpon  would  get  no  credit  at  all.  This, 
Captain,  is  one  of  those  objections  offered  in  the  in 
fancy  of  all  great  reforms.  Do  not  knock.  Boost ! 
That's  the  radium  rule,  Captain.  Boost!" 

"I  don't  think  you  could  get  poor  Miss  Suarez 
to  go  fishing  in  a  flying-machine,"  said  Mrs.  Gray- 
bill. 

"Is  she  worse?"  asked  Theodore. 

"No,"  replied  Mrs.  Graybill.  "But  she's  awfully 
collapsed.  The  fearful  strain  she  will  never  recover 
from,  never!" 

"She  will,"  said  Craighead.  "I  shall  treat  her 
with  my  system  of  mental  therapeutics — my  spe 
cialty — from  this  moment.  She  will  be  well  in 
exactly  four  hours.  Think  no  more  of  it,  sweet 
lady!" 

"Oh,"  cried  Mrs.  Graybill,  "can  you  do  such 
things,  Mr.  Craighead?" 

"Can  I?"  he  repeated.  "Look  me  in  the  eye. 
You  feel  drowsy !  You  do !  You  do !  In  a  moment, 
you  will  sleep,  and  you  will  dream,  of  him  who — " 

"Oh,  stop!"  cried  Mrs.  Graybill.  "I  never 
thought  you  had  such  power!" 

Mrs.  Graybill  vanished,  throwing  back  a  glance 


A    CAPTURE    AND    AN    ESCAPE     279 

at  Craighead  in  which  archness  struggled  with 
terror  of  his  magic.  He  made  hypnotic  passes, 
against  which  she  slammed  the  door. 

"Down  in  Colombia,"  went  on  Craighead,  "are 
some  placers  running  two  ounces  of  gold  to  the 
yard.  Can't  be  worked.  I  took  one  of  'em  from! 
some  Creole  burglars  in  Bogota.  Took  a  crew  of 
descendants  of  the  Incas,  and  went  in.  Machinery 
on  the  backs  of  mules.  Roads  like  the  edge  of  the 
sword  Mohammedans  walk  into  Paradise  on.  Got 
in.  Mosquitoes  so  thick  you  breathe  'em.  Anaph- 
eles,  with  an  occasional  Stegomya  sprunkle  in.  We 
had  everything  but  bubonic  plague  and  leprosy  in 
fifteen  minutes — which  is  the  local  period  of  incu 
bation  of  all  deadly  pestilences.  Fled  for  our  lives. 
Lost  paternal  patrimony.  Now!'' 

With  the  "Now!"  Craighead  turned  upon  Cap 
tain  Harrod  fiercely,  and  at  every  statement  smash 
ing  his  fist  into  his  palm,  advanced  upon  him  so 
threateningly  that  the  fisherman  gradually  gave 
ground,  and  finally  brought  the  disquisition  to  an 
end  by  falling  off  the  veranda. 

"Now!"  ejaculated  Craighead.  "I  shall  take 
that  concession  again.  Mr.  Waddy  will  furnish 
the  money.  We  carry  in  machinery  and  laborers 
with  Carson's  aeronef,  work  the  gravels  by  day,  and 
at  night  soar  to  the  summit  of  Chimborazo,  where 
the  germs  will  be  congealed  and  the  air  so  pure 


280    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

that  our  health  will  get  better  and  better  until  we 
can't  stand  it,  and  will  have  to  take  something  to 
mitigate  our  robustiousness.  Our  cargoes  of  dust 
will  swamp  the  financial  world,  place  us  on  a  pin 
nacle  of  affluence  undreamed  of,  and  make  gold  so 
cheap  that  it  will  be  equivalent  to  a  universal  bank 
rupt  law,  and  legislation  will  be  demanded  by  the 
distressed  creditor  class  to  relieve  them  of  the  horrid 
cruelty  of  the  debtors,  who,  like  Shylocks  with  the 
reverse  English,  will  hound  them  day  and  night  with 
offers  of  payment  in  pure  gold.  And  when  we've 
done  this — " 

The  captain  fell  off  and  breakfast  was  served  at 
the  same  moment.  Mr.  Waddy  sat  by  Craighead, 
asking  wary  questions  about  the  placers,  asserting 
that  he  wouldn't  put  a  cent  in  a  mine,  if  he  knew  it 
to  run  pure  gold,  two  thousand  pounds  to  the  ton. 
Craighead  held  out  hopes  that  he  might  find  a  way 
to  evade  his  pledges  of  secrecy,  but  withheld  in 
formation. 

Mr.  Waddy  was  upon  tenter-hooks  until  the 
Virginia  had  been  explained  to  him.  The  young 
inventor's  bandaged  hands  had  no  effect  upon  his 
enthusiasm  to  show  Mr.  Waddy  that  his  "good 
hard  money"  was  safe,  if  merit  in  the  aeronef  could 
make  it  so,  and  a  trip  was  arranged  for  Waddy, 
Craighead  and  Carson.  They  would  fly  down  to 
Fort  Morgan,  thence  to  Palmetto  Beach,  get  their 


A    CAPTURE    AND    AN    ESCAPE     281 

mail,  and  be  back  for  dinner;  for  which  meal  the 
captain  and  the  guide  promised  some  rail  from  the 
swamp.  The  party  must  break  up  as  soon  as  Miss 
Suarez  should  feel  like  traveling — which  Craig- 
head  took  it  upon  himself  to  say  would  not  be  later 
than  the  following  morning. 

"I  can  feel  the  voltage  emanating  from  me," 
said  he.  "All  I  fear  is,  that  I  may  make  her  so 
healthy  that  it  will  spoil  her  beauty !" 

Mr.  Waddy  shied  from  the  sea,  and  insisted  that 
all  castaways  seen  in  it  were  to  be  allowed  to  drown ; 
but  once  in  air  he  became  intoxicated  with  enthusi 
asm.  If  this  machine,  said  he,  was  so  good  that 
the  Aerostatic  Power  people  thought  it  good  busi 
ness  to  hire  Wizner  to  drown  it,  its  inventor  and  the 
young  woman  who  happened  to  be  along — and  he 
could  not  otherwise  explain  the  horrible  affair  of 
yesterday — it  was  good  enough  to  be  backed  with  all 
the  Waddy  money,  in  all  the  eight  banks.  What 
ever  "the  children"  said  he  was  in  it,  win  or  lose. 
Caroline  wanted  an  interest,  and  he'd  buy  a  little 
stock  for  her.  And  he  wouldn't  mind  taking  a 
look  at  those  placers,  though  he  wouldn't  put  a  cent 
in  a  mine,  if — 

The  Virginia  had  alighted  on  the  parade-ground 
at  Fort  Morgan,  softly,  like  a  bird  upon  her  eggs. 
The  bamboo  braces  fell  outward,  and  she  lay  on  an 
even  keel,  the  great  fortification  bursting  into  an 


282    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

uproar  at  her  intrusion.  The  aeronats  invariably 
halted  at  the  mooring-balloon  and  received  passes; 
but  Mr.  Waddy's  declaration  of  fealty  was  so  ab 
sorbing  and  the  speed  of  the  Virginia  so  unwonted 
to  her  pilot,  that  the  fort  had  been  spread  beneath 
him,  like  a  map,  before  he  was  aware  of  it.  To 
alight  might  mean  arrest,  inquiry  and  discharge, 
after  explanations  to  the  commandant,  Colonel 
Krimnitz,  of  whose  severity  Carson  felt  no  real 
fear.  But  if  he  tried  to  go  away  after  running 
the  guard,  he  might  be  fired  on  as  a  spy  making  off 
with  complete  photographs.  Altogether  it  was 
safest  to  alight,  thought  Carson ;  and  he  settled  on 
the  parade-ground,  greatly  to  the  agitation  of  an 
awkward  squad  drilling  under  a  sergeant,  whose 
bellowed  commands  were  cut  short  off  by  the  whir 
of  the  reversal  of  the  Virginia's  wing-blades.  He 
turned,  saw  the  huge  dragon-fly  with  its  bow  rud 
der  pointed  at  him  like  a  great  mandible;  and  in 
the  same  raucous  voice  of  command  he  shouted, 
"Well,  I'm  damned !"  and  took  to  his  heels,  followed 
enthusiastically  by  the  rookies. 

"The  courage  of  the  American  soldier,"  said 
Craighead,  "is  proverbial.  The  exception  but 
proves  the  rule, — just  how,  may  be  left  for  future 
discussion,  while  we  take  up  the  matter  of  awaiting 
our  fate,  which  may  be  a  year  in  black-hole,  or  ten 
days  bucked  and  gagged.  Right  here  is  where 


A    CAPTURE    AND    AN    ESCAPE     283 

Craighead  returns  to  the  service,  in  durance  vile,  as 
of  old!" 

The  drill  sergeant's  expression  carried  conviction 
to  the  sergeant  of  the  guard,  where  his  description 
of  a  devil  of  a  big  bird-thing  that  you  couldn't 
see  at  all  till  it  struck  the  ground,  might  not  have 
been  credited.  The  guard  turned  out  and  moved  on 
the  parade-ground,  while  the  drill  sergeant  became 
an  orderly  to  inform  the  officer  of  the  day.  Bear 
ing  down  on  the  defenseless  air-ship  like  a  whirl 
wind,  the  guard  encountered  a  great  silver-winged 
insect  with  a  snug  car  amidships,  her  four  braces 
sticking  in  the  Bermuda  grass  like  very  short  legs. 
Standing  by  her  were  Carson,  erect  and  soldierly, 
as  befitted  the  surroundings;  Waddy,  half  inclined 
to  crawl  under  the  car;  and  Craighead,  drawn  up 
in  an  exaggerated  setting-up  drill,  chest  thrown 
out,  chin  and  stomach  drawn  in,  spine  incurved  in 
the  Grecian  bend,  eyes  set  and  staring  forward  like 
those  of  a  wooden  man,  his  right  hand  to  his  cap  in 
a  frozen  salute. 

The  guard  halted  at  five  paces,  and  the  sergeant 
advanced,  obtaining  his  first  good  look  at  Mr.  Craig- 
head,  maintaining  the  attitude  of  military  carica 
ture  with  a  steadiness  perfectly  statuesque.  The 
sergeant,  a  little  man  with  a  red  moustache  turned 
up  a  la  Kaiser,  looked  at  him  for  half  a  minute,  and 
uttered  a  mysterious  exclamation,  the  meaning  of 


284    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

which  was  quite  unknown  to  Mr.  Waddy  and 
Carson. 

"What  the  billy  h— hotel  bill!"  said  he. 

Craighead  remained  motionless,  his  hand  to  his 
cap.  The  sergeant  amazedly  returned  the  salute. 
Craighead  relaxed  his  tense  muscles,  dropped  his 
hand  to  his  side,  and  winked  with  the  utmost  so 
briety  of  expression. 

"Podner,"  said  he,  "have  yeh  got  any  eatin'  to- 
backer?" 

"I'll  trouble  you  gentlemen  for  your  passes," 
returned  the  sergeant. 

"Unfortunately,"  replied  Mr.  Craighead,  "we 
omitted  to  obtain  passes.  The  fact  is  that  the  posts 
were  so  far  apart  in  the  stratum  in  which  we  entered 
that  we  missed  the  sentries  and  accidentally  ran  the 
guard.  We  may  have  overestimated  the  height  of 
the  American  soldier,  and  passed  over  the  heads  of 
our  audience.  We  will,  however,  make  good  now, 
and  take  out  all  necessary  credentials.  Say  no  more, 
Mr.  Sergeant.  We  see  your  position,  and  you 
may  trust  our  discretion.  We  are  all  soldiers.  This 
is  Gennle  Theodo'  Cahson,  M.  A.,  and  this  Mr. 
Waddy,  who  served  in  his  youth  in  the  typhoid  up 
rising  at  Chickamauga  in  the  Spanish-American 
war.  Show  your  button,  Mr.  Waddy,  as  an  S.  A.  W. 
V.  You  see,  Sergeant,  that  you  are  quite  safe 
against  our  capturing  Fort  Morgan.  Am  I  right 


A    CAPTURE    AND    AN    ESCAPE     285 

in  my  assumption  that  the  building1  yonder  from 
which  the  officer  is  emerging  so  incontinently  is  the 
headquarters?" 

"Yes,  sir,"  replied  the  sergeant. 

"Then,"  said  Mr.  Craighead,  "will  you  not  pre 
sent  us  to  the  commandant?  You  may  leave  a  guard 
for  the  aeronef.  Your  arm,  sir !" 

"It  won't  be  necessary,"  said  the  sergeant. 
"Here's  Captain  Bolger  now." 

Captain  Bolger  was  a  choleric  gentleman,  with 
whiskers  like  General  Sherman's,  much  thinned  by 
the  increase  in  the  area  of  the  face  since  the  estab 
lishment  of  the  foliage.  The  beard  was  black;  but 
the  red  shone  through  vividly  in  a  color  scheme 
that  made  the  Bolger  face  an  Indian  summer  sun 
just  above  the  horizon,  with  its  lower  limb  in  dark 
haze.  He  advanced  rapidly,  with  a  hippety-hopping 
gait,  as  if  catching  step  with  an  imaginary  compan 
ion  very  careless  of  the  march. 

"What's  this,  Sergeant?"  he  sputtered.  "What's 
this?  This  is  quite  irregular,  Sergeant — entirely 
irregular.  The  parade-ground!  A  damned  thing 
with  wings  and  V-type  engines — two  of  them — two 
of  them !  What  do  you  mean  by  it,  Sergeant?  And 
no  passes?  Some  one  will  sweat  for  this — highly 
irregular!" 

He  pulled  up  suddenly  and  panted  violently. 
The  perspiration  beginning  to  drip  down  from 


286    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

under  his  service  hat  he  took  the  hat  off,  turned  his 
back  as  if  concealing  some  very  private  matter, 
wiped  his  head  and  face  elaborately  with  a  silk 
handkerchief,  then  turned  to  the  sergeant  suddenly, 
his  heels  clicking,  his  posture  intensely  military,  as 
if  to  close  the  incident  of  the  handkerchief,  and  put 
it  into  the  dead  past  for  ever. 

"The  parade-ground !"  he  repeated  in  an  outraged 
tone,  as  if  it  would  have  been  vastly  better  if  it 
had  been  the  glacis,  or  the  covered  way,  or  the  coun 
ter-scarp. 

"Pardon  me,"  said  Theodore.  "My  name  is 
Carson.  I  miscalculated  my  speed  and  came  in  be 
fore  I  was  aware  of  it.  I  know  Colonel  Krimnitz, 
and  if—" 

"Colonel  Krimnitz,  sir,"  said  Captain  Bolger,  "is 
temporarily  on  leave.  I  am  the  officer  of  the  day, 
sir.  You  will  produce  a  pass  for  your  confounded 
aeronef  or  I  shall  order  you — " 

"I  feel  sure,"  said  Mr.  Carson,  "that  Colonel 
Krimnitz — " 

"Colonel  Krimnitz  be  hanged!"  retorted  Captain 
Bolger,  whose  wife  had  recently  been  snubbed  by 
Mrs.  Colonel  Krimnitz,  and  to  whom  the  name  of 
Krimnitz  had  been  made  an  irritant  by  Mrs.  Bol 
ger.  "Colonel  Krimnitz  be  damned,  in  fact.  You 
can't  come  the  Krimnitz  game,  sir,  while  he  is,  as 
I  have  had  the  honor  of  informing  you,  on  leave." 


A    CAPTURE    AND    AN    ESCAPE     287 

"We  didn't  mean  no  harm,"  ventured  Mr. 
Waddy,  "and  it  seems  to  me — " 

"No  harm!"  snorted  Captain  Bolger.  "What  do 
you  mean,  sir?  Running  the  guard,  sir,  in  a  con 
founded  flying-machine  with  four  eight-cylinder 
engines — sir!"  as  if  the  gravamen  of  the  crime  lay 
in  the  number  of  the  engines,  or  the  cylinders — 
"and  sticking  her  infernal  legs  into  the  lawn,  and 
— Sergeant !" 

"Captain !"  said  the  sergeant,  saluting. 

"See  what  that  thing  is  in  the  fellow's  hand," 
pointing  to  Mr.  Waddy's  camera.  "Take  it,  and  if 
it's  a  bomb,  explode  it  at  sea.  If  it's  a  camera,  turn 
it  over  to  me  instantly ;  and  confine  these  men.  My 
compliments  to  Major  Flathers ;  and  say  to  him  that 
I  have  confined  three  men  who  ran  the  guard  in  an 
air-ship,  with  bombs  or  cameras,  as  the  case  may  be, 
that  I  have  the  air-ship  under  guard,  and  await  his 
instructions  at  headquarters." 

And  Captain  Bolger  hippety-hopped  to  head 
quarters,  followed  by  a  soldier  with  a  camera. 
The  three  interlopers  went  into  the  guard-house, 
while  Captain  Bolger's  message  went  to  Major 
Flathers,  commandant  in  the  absence  of  Colonel 
Krimnitz. 

The  guard-house  was  clean  and  quite  agreeably 
cool,  with  wide  north  and  south  windows  guarded 
by  steel  basketry  built  into  the  concrete  walls.  A 


288    VIRGINIA    OF   THE   AIR   LANES 

soldier  with  a  black  patch  over  his  eye  and  a  wet 
cloth  on  his  head  was  their  sole  fellow-offender. 
There  seemed  little  need  of  the  sentry  before  the 
door,  everything  was  so  secure  and  tight-fitting. 
Mr.  Craighead  rolled  and  lighted  a  cigarette,  of 
fered  the  patched  man  the  paper  and  the  tobacco, 
and  smoked.  Carson  began  -unavailing  efforts  to 
enlist  the  sentry  in  a  project  for  an  interview  with 
the  commandant.  Mr.  Waddy  stood  where  the 
guard  had  left  him  for  perhaps  ten  minutes,  and 
then  began  hopping  up  and  down. 

"I  won't  stand  it!"  he  shouted.  "I  want  to  wire 
John  H.  Gunn !  I  want  to  wire  Washington,  I  tell 
you — John  H.  Gunn,  Speaker  of  the  House !  He'll 
make  somebody  chew  hay  for  this!  Why,  I  could 
buy  and  sell  all  these  understrappers  an'  martin 
gales  !  Cyrus  Waddy  put  in  jail  by  that  red-faced 
Suffolk!  Wire  Gunn  at  Washington!" 

"The  mills  of  the  gods,"  said  Craighead,  "grind 
slowly.  Ever  notice  that?" 

The  soldier  with  the  patch  and  bandage  replied 
that  he  hadn't  paid  much  attention  to  'em;  but  it 
seemed  reasonable. 

"And  how  fast,"  pursued  Craighead,  "do  your 
red-tape  mills  operate  here?  When  shall  we  be 
brought  before  the  supreme  being  that  ranks 
Bolger?" 

"If  old   Flathers,"   responded   the  battered   de- 


A    CAPTURE    AND    AN    ESCAPE     289 

fender  of  his  country,  "is  good-natured,  you  may 
be  hauled  up  by  the  time  he's  finished  his  round  of 
golf.  But  if  it's  close,  and  the  doctor  stumps  him, 
he'll  bet  two  bits  and  play  another.  He'll  have  his 
bath,  an'  his  lunch,  an'  his  nap — oh,  I  reckon  you 
go  against  him  some  time  to-day.  What's  the 
odds?" 

"No  odds,"  replied  Craighead,  "except  that  the 
explosion  of  Mr.  Waddy  might  wreck  government 
property.  I  never  feel  so  calm  as  when  in  hock. 
But  he  is  different.  He  can  telegraph  to  Mr.  Gunn, 
who  will  send  a  page  to  the  Chairman  of  the  Com 
mittee  on  Military  Affairs,  who  will  appeal  to  the 
Secretary  of  War — and  off  comes  Captain  Bolger's 
head." 

"In  a  horn,"  remarked  the  soldier.  "Give  us  an 
other  o'  them  coffin  nails !" 

Mr.  Craighead  began  humming  It's  Twenty 
Miles  to  Vassar,  evidently  a  West  Point  ditty, 
paced  the  guard-house,  turning  corners  with  mili 
tary  precision,  or  stood  accurately  with  certain 
fingers  on  certain  seams  of  his  trousers  as  precise 
as  a  tin  soldier.  The  atmosphere  had  permeated 
his  system ;  and  when  a  corporal's  guard  called  for 
them,  his  stride  might  have  been  offered  as  a  model. 

Access  to  Major  Flathers'  desk  was  opened  for 
them  by  orderlies  described  by  Mr.  Waddy  as 
state's-prison-looking  fellows,  armed  to  the  teeth. 


290    VIRGINIA    OF.   THE    AIR    LANES 

The  major  was  thin,  solemn,  bilious-looking,  as  if 
he  had  a  bad  liver  from  service  in  the  tropics; 
haughty,  as  if  the  liver  had  overflowed  his  temper. 
Their  hearts  sank  as  they  looked  into  his  eyes  of 
yellowish  brown,  with  whites  of  smoky  yellow;  and 
noted  the  funereal  droop  of  his  long  black  mus 
tache,  cut  down  the  middle  by  the  greater  droop  of 
the  nose  enormously  high,  surpassingly  hooked,  in 
credibly  sharp  and  thin;  he  looked  so  unapproach 
able  and  jaundiced  and  like  an  immensely  exalted 
potentate  contemplating  candidates  for  the  Asylum 
for  the  Irretrievably  Worthless  who  had  been  found 
below  grade.  His  voice  was  the  deepest  of  bassos, 
rumbling  softly  out  as  if  protesting  that,  really,  it 
had  no  room  to  turn  itself.  Craighead  started  at 
the  sound;  and  began  a  close  scrutiny  of  Major 
Flathers,  making  notes  in  a  book. 

"Who  are  you?"  said  Major  Flathers. 

He  looked  at  Mr.  Waddy,  his  tone  of  well-modu 
lated  distant  thunder  seeming  to  say  that  they  were 
really  nobody. 

"Who  are  we?"  cried  Mr.  Waddy.  "Who  are 
we?  American  citizens,  sir!  Citizens  and  taxpay 
ers  before  you  was  ever  born,  sir!  Wire  John  H. 
Gunn,  at  Washington,  that  Cyrus  Waddy's  shut  up 
in  jail,  an'  you'll  find  out !  You'll—" 

"It  would  seem  an  economy  of  time,  Mr.  Waddy," 
said  the  major,  after  quelling  him  with  a  yellow 


glower,  "not  to  trouble  Mr.  Gunn  nor  the  presi 
dent,  who  might  find  it  inconvenient  to  attend  for 
purposes  of  identification.  It  would  be  quite  as 
easy  for  this  young  gentleman  to  be  the  Crown 
Prince  of  Germany,  and  the  other  the  First  Lord  of 
the  Admiralty  as  for  you  to  be  Mr.  Waddy — illus 
trious  though  he  may  be,  and  no  doubt  is.  You  must 
prove  yourselves  good  citizens  by  authorities  nearer, 
than  Washington.  What  can  you  say,  sir?" 

This  query  was  directed  at  Craighead,  who  had 
ceased  to  take  notes  and  was  looking  at  the  im 
posing  major  in  the  manner  of  one  who  knows  his 
man. 

"Most  high  and  illustrious  one,"  said  he,  "the 
world  is  wide,  its  population  some  sixteen  hundred 
millions.  Of  this  considerable  force,  we  are  but 
three.  You  ask  us,  O  Serenity,  to  set  ourselves 
apart  from  the  others  by  brands  and  marks.  Wert 
thou  present  when  the  obstetrician  scheduled  our 
strawberry-marks,  or  the  midwife  recorded  the 
notches  in  our  ears?  Then  how  can  the  thing  be 
proven?  It  is  a  hard  saying.  And  yet,  didst  ever 
see  that  serrated  nose?  Give  me  a  pen,  and  let  me 
mark  it  'Exhibit  A' !" 

The  major  rose  with  pronounced  absence  of 
haste,  adjusted  a  pair  of  rimless  glasses  to  his  pre 
cipitous  beak  by  a  clasp  of  special  construction ;  ex 
amined  Craighead's  nose  critically  and  imperson- 


292    VIRGINIA    OF   THE    AIR    LANES 

ally,  as  if  looking  at  a  specimen  in  a  case,  slowly 
removed  the  glasses,  and  deliberately  reseated  him 
self. 

"I  have  observed  such  a  nose  in  but  one  case," 
said  he;  "but  its  introduction  in  evidence  does  not 
establish  its  identity  with  the  only  snout  of  similar 
asymmetry  recorded.  'Exhibit  A'  will  be  consid 
ered  for  what  it  is  worth — as  evidence.  Proceed." 

"The  memory,"  went  on  Craighead,  "is  more  inti 
mately  personal  and  individual  than  is  the  organ  of 
olfaction.  I  will  now  render  a  song,  which  I  beg 
this  honorable  body  to  receive  as  'Exhibit  BV 

Though  this  declaration  made  a  distinct  sensation 
among  the  officers  and  orderlies;  and  though  the 
sergeant,  who  was  shorthand  reporter,  broke  three 
pencils  in  his  agitation,  Major  Flathers  never  let 
down  by  even  one  degree  the  saturnine  dignity  of 
his  presence.  Craighead  sang  with  a  fine  inde 
pendence  of  tune,  but  with  an  air  and  style  of  tone 
emission  which  reminded  all  hearers  of  a  basso  pro- 
fundo  laboring  in  the  trough  of  the  heaviest  vocal 
sea.  That  it  reminded  his  friends  of  the  major  him 
self  was  shown  by  smiles  hidden  behind  hands,  by 
significant  glances,  and  a  final  titter  as  Craighead 
finished  with  a  sub-cellar  cadenza  so  low  that  it 
could  not  be  sung,  but  only  indicated  by  the  drawing 
down  of  the  chin  with  a  hoarse  whisper  on  the  word 
"morning." 


"Oh,  it's  twenty  miles  to  Vassar,  and  the  Hudson 

for  to  cross ; 
There's  regulations  to  be  broke  at  both  ends  of  the 

route ; 
But  Belinda's  eyes  are  like  the  sky,  Belinda's  hair 

is  floss ; 

And  Jim   is  black  and  plagued  with  love,   and 
doesn't  care  a  hoot ! 

Oh,  it's  twenty  miles  to  Vassar! 
But  it's  fifty  smiles  at  Vassar! 
And  it's  other  lovey-dovey  things  in  hosts  beyond 

compare ! 

Oh,  the  love  of  dear  Belinder  burns  his  heart  into 
a  cinder — 

And   Jim    will   be   at   Vassar   ere   the 
morning." 

A  slight  redness  crept  up  under  the  tan  of  Major 
Flathers'  cheek,  a  slight  quiver  of  the  thin  nostril 
betrayed  the  fact  that  Craighead's  song  had  touched 
some  spot  that  thrilled — but  whether  to  laughter  or 
anger  no  one  could  tell.  Mr.  Craighead  asked  if  it 
would  be  necessary  to  adduce  more  proof  of  his 
identity. 

"Will  the  proof  consist  in  further  vocalization?" 
asked  the  major  judicially. 

"Oh,  wise  and  upright  judge,"  replied  Craighead, 
"it  will  consist  of  ten  other  stanzas  once  sacred  to  a 
select  circle  at  West  Point.  If  an  accompanist — " 

"In  view  of  this,"  said  the  major,  with  unabated 
dignity,  "I  shall  hear  the  case  in  private." 


294   VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

The  major  rose,  and  passed  out  without  a  glance 
at  the  intruders.  The  squad  took  them  to  his  quar 
ters,  where  he  received  them  in  frozen  stiffness; 
and  stood  aside  to  let  them  into  a  library  rather 
well  furnished  with  books. 

The  major  sat  like  a  graven  image  until  the  re 
ceding  footsteps  were  lost  to  the  ear.  Then  he 
rushed  at  Craighead,  shook  him  until  his  teeth 
chattered,  laughing,  slapping  him  on  the  back, 
shaking  his  hands,  and  otherwise  showing  such  a 
reversal  of  form  from  his  official  staidness  that  Mr. 
Waddy  and  Carson  came  independently  to  the  con 
clusion  that  he  had  suddenly  gone  mad. 

"Craig!  Craig!"  said  he.  "You  confounded  old 
scapegrace!  I've  an  infernal  good  mind  to  throw 
you  in  for  ten  years !  And  that  Belinda  song  you 
made  up  about  me!  Blast  you,  the  regulations 
won't  permit  adequate  punishment!  And  sober, 
too !  Tell  me  all  about  yourself,  confound  you,  and 
introduce  your  friends !" 

"With  Mr.  Waddy's  name,"  said  Craighead,  "you 
are  familiar.  He  is  the  billionaire  owner  of  Speaker 
Gunn." 

"Confoundedly  sorry,"  said  the  major.  "But  if 
this  reprobate,"  indicating  Craighead,  "had  hinted 
that  he  was  our  West  Point  disgrace — I  should  have 
issued  passes,  and — " 


A    CAPTURE    AND    AN    ESCAPE     295 

"Oh,  that's  all  right,"  said  Mr.  Waddy.  "Don't 
say  no  more  about  it,  Major." 

"And  this,"  said  Craighead,  "is  the  inventor  and 
builder  of  our  air-ship,  General  Theodore  Carson, 
M.  A." 

"Glad  to  meet  you,  General,"  said  the  major. 
"Not  in  our  army?" 

"Not  in  any,"  said  Carson.  "It's  a  pleasantry  of 
Mr.  Craighead's." 

"Quite  so!"  replied  the  major,  shaking  hands 
again.  "But  it  was  confoundedly  irregular  to  run 
the  guard,  you  know !" 

"We  didn't  intend—" 

"Not  a  word !"  said  the  major.  "You  must  dine 
with  me — Mrs.  Flathers  will  waive  ceremony.  She 
isn't  Belinder,  Craig, — you  disreputable  old  dog, — 
disguised  as  a  sober  man!  Could  be  hanged  as  a 
spy!  Twenty  Miles  to  Vassar,  in  headquarters! 
Nobody  but  Craig — let's  write  a  letter  to  Bill  Alex 
ander — in  Guam!" 

The  major  was  as  complaisant  now  as  he  had  been 
unyielding.  He  and  Craighead  talked  out  the  Be 
linda  episode,  the  expulsion  of  Craighead,  the 
slowness  of  promotions,  the  aeronef  company,  and 
then  the  aeronef  itself  as  it  lay  on  the  parade- 
ground — on  which  occasion  Major  Flathers  was 
particularly  fierce  in  commanding  a  search  for 


296    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

down-looking  photographic  mechanism,  and  for  ex 
plosives.  The  examination,  the  dinner,  the  view  of 
the  Flathers  baby,  and  Mrs.  Flathers'  confidential 
conversation  with  Carson,  who  was  always  strong 
in  his  appeal  to  the  ladies,  delayed  their  departure 
until  the  sun  was  sinking  beyond  Fort  Gaines,  and 
Mr.  Waddy  was  startled  into  a  trembling  fit  by  the 
sunset  gun  as  they  crossed  the  rifle  range,  taking  it 
for  an  artillery  attack  on  the  Virginia.  The  dark 
ness  crept  under  them  across  the  peninsula  as  they 
flew ;  and  it  was  starlight  when  they  alighted,  each 
filled  with  his  own  anticipations — Mr.  Waddy,  of 
supper;  Mr.  Craighead,  of  the  company  of  Mrs. 
Graybill ;  and  Carson,  to  whom  the  terrible  experi 
ence  of  the  day  before  had  made  her  doubly  dear, 
of  admission  to  the  presence  of  Virginia.  Mrs. 
Graybill  met  them,  with  a  letter  in  her  hand  for  Mr. 
Carson,  and  a  troubled  look  on  her  face.  Carson 
turned  white  as  he  tore  it  open. 

"I  am  going  away,"  it  ran,  "with  my  aunt,  who 
has  kindly  found  me  and  told  me  of  your  decep 
tion  in  allowing  me  to  live  with  you,  thinking  you 
my  uncle.  There  are  many  things  I  might  say, 
many  I  should  like  to  say ;  but  I  might  use  expres 
sions  for  which  I  should  be  sorry.  As  for  the  com 
promising  of  myself,  of  which  my  aunt  has  spoken, 
I  care  nothing,  other  things  count  for  so  much 
more.  I  want  our  parting  to  be  without  bitterness; 


A    CAPTURE    AND    AN    ESCAPE     297 

so,  with  the  assurance  that  I  shall  watch  over  you 
and  pray  for  your  success,  and  with  thanks  for  the 
many,  many  good  and  kind  things  you  have  done 
for  me,  I  bid  you  good-by  for  ever.  We  can  never 
forget  each  other — the  things  we  have  known  to 
gether  forbid  that ;  but  we  can  never  meet  again. — 
Virginia  Suarez." 

Craighead  caught  Theodore  as  he  staggered. 

"When  did  they  go?"  said  he. 

"About  noon,"  replied  Mrs.  Graybill. 

Carson  groaned,  thinking  bitterly  of  the  hours 
wasted  at  Fort  Morgan;  and  asked  for  Mrs.  Stott. 
She  had  gone  home  on  the  Roc. 

"They  went  north,  then,"  said  Carson. 

"So  must  we,"  rejoined  Craighead. 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  Waddy,  who  seemed  to  consider 
the  Virginia  incident  closed,  "I'll  go  home  an'  push 
the  work  in  the  West;  you  boys  to  New  York,  to 
gtart  the  injunctions  an'  things." 

"Very  well,"  said  Carson.  "Craighead,  we'll 
start  for  New  York  in  the  Virginia  in  the  morning !" 

That  night  Carson  wandered  to  the  spot  on  the 
beach  where  he  had  drawn  Virginia  down  out  of 
the  sky  in  the  runaway  helicopter.  The  heavens 
were  overcast,  the  east  winds  moaned  through  the 
pines,  great  gray  waves  broke  thunderously  on  the 
beach,  and  from  the  marshes  came  the  croak  of 
night-herons.  He  sat  pondering  on  his  misery,  on 


298    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

the  temptation  to  which  he  had  succumbed,  on  the 
hopelessness  of  his  love.  They — he  and  she — had 
approached  each  other  like  two  stars,  and  flown  off 
into  space,  never  to  meet,  in  predestined  orbits. 
And  after  all  they  had  enjoyed  and  lived  and  suf 
fered  together!  The  hand  on  his  shoulder  felt  for 
the  moment  like  hers,  but  it  was  Mrs.  Graybill  who 
had  come  through  the  soft  sand,  silent  as  a  ghost, 
to  his  side. 

"Mr.  Carson,"  said  she,  "this  isn't  the  last.  Don't 
give  up.  I  couldn't  speak  to  her ;  I  was  only  a  stran 
ger.  But  I  kept  the  fragments  of  the  letters  she 
tore  up.  Put  them  together.  They  will  cheer  you 
up.  What  a  woman  wants  to  say,  and  doesn't  dare, 
means  much,  much  more  than  what  she  says.  Mr. 
Carson,  don't  despair!" 

And  she  ran  away  as  silently  as  she  had  come. 


CHAPTER  XV 

A  RETREAT  FROM  BABYLON 

THE  date  when  the  Virginia  left  the  dunes  of 
the  Alabama  coast  for  her  first  long  voyage 
is  now  historic.  It  placed  man,  as  a  flying 
animal,  on  an  equality  with  the  birds  and  bats  and 
insects.  It  relegated  the  makeshifts  with  which  the 
world  had  attempted  the  conquest  of  the  air,  with 
the  flail,  the  coracle,  the  galley,  the  galleon,  the 
distaff  and  the  sling,  to  the  limbo  of  abandoned 
things.  The  gas-bag  of  the  aerostat,  and  the  aero- 
nefs  of  the  first  decade  of  the  century,  went  the  way 
of  the  tentative  and  imperfect  with  the  steam-engine 
of  Hero,  and  the  war-gins  of  Archimedes,  Calli- 
machus  and  Demetrius.  The  new  era  is  one  of  great 
flying  engines  beside  which  the  Virginia  was  as 
a  humming-bird  to  a  hawk;  but  which  are, 
every  one,  built  on  the  Virginia's  principles — the 
direct  thrust  of  the  blades,  and  the  balancing  by  the 
automatic  distribution  of  power  by  means  of  light 
gyroscopes.  The  new  hero  was  the  miserable  young 

299 


300   VIRGINIA   OF   THE   AIR    LANES 

man  who  looked  like  one  with  his  death-wound,  and 
manoeuvered  the  new  machine  like  a  veteran — Theo 
dore  Carson.  Every  school-boy  knows  these  things. 

But  every  one  does  not  know  of  her  difficulty  in 
getting  off.  She  cleared  from  her  nest  and  struck 
out  like  a  homing  pigeon,  and  suddenly,  as  if  by 
an  elastic  return-ball  cord,  she  returned  to  the 
launch  of  Mr.  Waddy  and  Mrs.  Graybill  on  Fresh 
water  Lake.  I 

"What's  wrong?"  inquired  Mr.  Waddy  anx 
iously. 

"My  mental  cargo  shifted,"  replied  Craighead, 
from  above.  "The  Virginia  was  leaky  and  unsea- 
worthy !  Had  to  put  back !" 

"Shifting  cargo"  symbolized  the  fact  that  Mr. 
Craighead  had  something  to  say  —  in  which  he 
passed  from  a  forced  business  conversation  to  an 
exchange  of  farewells  with  Mrs.  Graybill,  cut  short 
by  Carson's  resumption  of  flight 

The  wharves  and  verandas  of  the  hotels  and  villas 
were  filled  now  with  observers  of  the  new  inhab 
itant  of  the  sky.  They  saw  her  take  her  second 
flight  northward ;  but  again,  with  a  sweep  that  filled 
them  with  admiration,  she  fled  back  once  more  to  a 
position  a  few  yards  above  the  launch. 

"The  crew  mutinied,"  said  Craighead.  "Salt 
horse  wormy!  And  we  ought  to  work  out  this 
Broom  idea  a  little  more,  Mr.  Waddy." 


A  RETREAT  FROM  BABYLON   301 

"There  ain't  no  use  in  your  comin'  back  for  that," 
said  Mr.  Waddy.  "I  know  my  business  as  well  as 
the  next  one.  I'm  handlin'  the  West.  You  let  me 
alone." 

"Assuredly,  Michael,"  assented  Craighead. 
"Good-by,  Mrs.  Graybill.  The  hard  part  of  going 
to  sea  is  good-by." 

Again  they  flew  northward;  and  again,  within 
five  minutes  of  losing  the  launch,  Craighead  de 
manded  that  Carson  put  back. 

"I  would  have  converse  with  Sir  Cyrus  Waddy," 
said  he.  "This  time  I  must.  My  statistical  bureau 
has  dug  up  the  real  item  that  I  wanted  to  show  him. 
Return,  Sir  Thedo'  Cahson,  Lord  Mayor  of  Every- 
whar !  Return  to  the  launch !" 

"No!"  said  Theodore;  "we  have  vacillated 
enough ;  too  much.  I  shall  not  return." 

"But,  I  say,  old  chap,"  urged  Craighead,  "this 
is  the  lahst,  you  know.  Seriously  now,  Mr.  Waddy 
doesn't  know  the  first  thing  about  my  scheme  for 
controlling  Middle  West  space  through  titles  to 
highways.  I've  got  to  talk  with  him.  Come  now. 
Go  back,  or  I'll  jolly  well  hop  into  the  bay  and 
swim.  I  will  go  back.  I'll  scuttle  the  ship.  I  shall 
not  sleep  a  wink.  I'll  be  worthless  unless  I'm  taken 
back.  Back,  villain,  unhand  me !  I'll  buy  a  starling 
in  the  first  poultry  market,  and  teach  the  infernal 
fowl  to  hqllp  in  thine  ear,  'Back!  Take  me  back!' 


302    VIRGINIA    OE   THE   AIR   LANES 

I'm  in  earnest.    The  farther  we  go,  the  more  things 
I  think  of  to  go  back  for.  Take  me — " 

"For  the  last  time?"  Carson  stipulated.  "Do  you 
promise?" 

"Yes,  good  my;  lord,  this  is  the  amen  trip!  I 
swear  it!" 

The  Virginia,  darting  like  a  meteor  up  the  bay, 
swerved  so  sharply  over  the  Middle  Bay  light  that 
Craighead  well-nigh  went  overboard,  and  steered 
once  more  into  the  beautiful  blue  semicircle  of  Bon 
Secour  Bay,  Craighead  peering  forward  under  the 
pintles  of  the  bow  rudder  for  the  launch,  as  a  globe- 
circling  sailor  might  scan  the  shore  for  his  waiting 
wife.  They  went  hurtling  back  over  the  Palmetto 
Beach  hotels  at  a  height  of  five  hundred  feet;  and 
thence  to  the  easterly  end  of  the  Little  Lagoon. 
The  galleries  were  alive  with  people,  scanning  the 
tremendously  powerful  flier  with  glasses.  What 
was  this  thing  harrowing  the  sky  in  this  seemingly 
aimless  fashion,  so  alive,  so  vigorous,  so  forceful 
in  her  swift  swoop? 

Craighead,  with  the  binoculars,  saw  in  the  black 
circle  of  Freshwater  Lake  no  launch. 
\     "They're  not  on  the  lake,  Carson,"  he  cried  in 
panic.     "What  can  have  happened?    Is  it  possible 
they've  sunk?" 

"Don't  faint !"  said  Carson.  "They're  in  the  nar 
rows,  hidden  by  the  cane.  We'll  find  them." 


A  RETREAT  FROM  BABYLON   303 

"I  cal'late  you've  guessed  it,  Cap'n,"  replied 
Craighead,  with  a  sigh  of  relief.  "There  they  are 
now." 

The  Virginia  followed  the  tortuous  channel  as  a 
kestrel  in  quest  of  finches  might  trace  the  windings 
of  a  rail  fence.  In  the  sheltered  pond,  which  Carson 
called  Virginia's  lily-bed,  Mrs.  Graybill  was  gather 
ing  waxen  blossoms,  and  piling  them  in  the  pilot's 
oilskins.  When  the  low-flying  aeronef  came  up 
astern,  she  grew  crimson,  and  laughed. 

"Well,"  said  Mr.  Waddy;  "I'll  be  darned!" 

"We  returned  to  say — "  began  Mr.  Craighead. 

"It  was  Craighead's  desire,"  broke  in  Carson. 

"Exactly,"  assented  Craighead.  "I  desired  a 
word  with  you,  sir,  on  the  western  highways — " 

"No  use  o'  that,"  cut  in  Mr.  Waddy.  "You  give 
Filley  the  idee?" 

"I  communicated  the  conception,"  said  Craig- 
head.  "Yes." 

"An'  I  paid  him  f'r  an  opinion  on  it?" 

"You  became  obligated  for  it,"  said  Craighead. 
"Equivalent  to  payment,  in  your  case,  but,  legally, 
quite  distinguishable." 

"It's  the  same  thing,"  cried  Mr.  Waddy.  "An' 
the  fellers  we  hire  know  more  than  a  quarter-sec 
tion  of  folks  that  don't  know  their  own  minds. 
Don't  you  come  back  again ;  it  bothers  me  like  mus- 
keeters.  Go  on !" 


304    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

"Presently,  most  puissant  sir.  There's  a  matter 
we  haven't  mentioned.  How  shall  we  yawp  forth 
the  grand  hailing  sign  of  distress,  when  I  am  far 
away  ?" 

"They're  still  runnin'  the  mails  and  telegraphs, 
ain't  they  ?"  queried  Mr.  Waddy  testily. 

"Would  you,"  queried  Craighead,  "place  a  world 
in  pawn  on  the  faith  of  a  mail  clerk ;  or  the  fidelity 
of  a  telegraph  system  controlled  by  our  loathsome 
enemies?  As  triumvir  to  triumvir,  answer,  in  the 
name  of  our  patron  saints,  Sir  Henry  Morgan  and 
Jesse  James !" 

"We  agreed  on  a  cipher,"  snapped  Mr.  Waddy. 
"Go  on  an'  use  it" 

"Cipher!"  scoffed  Craighead,  who  had  devised 
it  himself.  "Not  with  the  hounds  of  Shayne  on  Car 
son's  traces.  Why,  any  cipher  can  be  deciphered. 
Go  back  to  the  time  of  Bacon — " 

"Well,  if  yeh  stay  much  longer,"  cried  Mr. 
Waddy  irritably,  "we  may  as  well  go  back  to  the 
time  of  Ham  as  Bacon !  What  you  drivin'  at,  any 
how?" 

"Your  pungent  play  on  words,"  said  Craighead, 
"gives  me  joy.  It  proves  my  power  to  corrupt. 
Last  springtide  you'd  have  been  incapable  of  it. 
I'm  driving  at  the  necessity  of  a  trusty  messenger 
who  will  die  rather  than  disclose,  will  swallow  blue 
prints  to  keep  them  from  the  enemy,  will  explode 


A  RETREAT  FROM  BABYLON   305 

a  magazine  before  admitting  a  traitor  even  unto 
its  table  of  contents.  I  know  one  such." 

"Who?"  asked  the  puzzled  Waddy. 

"Your  beauteous  daughter!  Give  her  a  running 
schedule  per  ten-hour  train  between  Chicago  and 
New  York,  bringing  your  messages  and  returning 
with  ours  until  victory  is  won.  Eh?" 

Mrs.  Graybill  leaned  back  and  laughed  until  she 
was  crimson  of  face  and  teary  of  eye. 

"It  won't  do,"  she  said.  "I  never  could  eat  blue 
prints.  Any  one  can  deceive  me — " 

"Then  I've  some  hope,"  said  Craighead.  "That's 
worth  coming  back  for." 

"Use  the  mails,  you  absurd  fellow !"  she  went  on. 
"Good-by.  Take  him  away,  Mr.  Carson ;  and  return 
with  your  shield,  or  on  it,  Mr.  Craighead.  Oh, 
you — ha,  ha,  ha,  ha-a-a!" 

"This  rippling  ha-ha,  fair  one,"  said  Craighead 
severely,  "would  be  unseemly  from  a  less  seemly 
pharynx.  But  I  swear — " 

The  oath  was  cut  in  two  by  an  upward  and  for 
ward  flight,  at  the  last  speed,  that  pulled  the  speech 
in  twain  and  left  the  launch  alone  in  the  great 
marsh,  with  Mrs.  Graybill,  her  color  high,  her 
mouth  occasionally  curving  into  a  smile — sometimes 
culminating  audibly — practising  Japanese  flower 
arrangements,  while  her  father  combed  his  beard 
with  his  fingers  and  said  nothing. 


306    VIRGINIA    OF   THE    AIR    LANES 

Passing  over  the  bay  with  a  wide  westerly  detour, 
the  Virginia  came  in  over  Spring  Hill,  and  alighted 
softly  at  the  aeronef  landing  at  Mobile.  From  a 
hundred  sally  ports — streets,  alleys  and  wharves — 
poured  a  throng  of  people,  attracted  by  the  strange 
craft  that  had  made  port,  the  negroes,  first  forming 
about  the  car  a  black  ring  starred  with  white  eyes. 
Caucasians  then  assumed  advantageous  positions, 
rather  abashed  at  the  steady  gaze  of  Carson,  and 
the  evident  amusement  of  Craighead. 

"Howdy,  folks?"  said  the  latter.  "Take  a  good 
look.  For  even  when  ye  wist  not,  we  vanish.  Out 
of  the  great  deep  we  come,  into  the  great  deep  we 
go.  The  Elementals  who  send  us  are  the  pow'fulest 
spirits  what  there  is.  But  a  brief  space  have  we,  to 
warn  Mobile.  Repent!  Repent!  Yet  a  few  mo' 
days,  an'  Mobile  shall  be  done  destroyed !" 

"Stop,  Craighead,"  cried  Carson.  "Don't  pay 
any  attention  to  what  he  says — " 

"They  won't,"  replied  Craighead.  "They'll  sin 
just  the  same  the  minute  we're  gone.  Even  an  angel 
from  Heaven,  which  far  be  it  from  me  to  claim — " 

"Dan  Thomas,"  said  Carson,  to  an  old  negro,  with 
la  whip  in  his  hand,  "come  here!" 

"Yes,  Mistah  Cahson,"  responded  the  negro. 

"Fetch  me  at  once  one  Number  Two  can  of  A- 
quality  methanose — and  get  me  a  list  of  the  aeronat 
clearings  for  the  last  two  days." 


A  RETREAT  FROM  BABYLON   307 

"Yes,  suh." 

Thomas  darted  away;  and  Carson  began  testing 
his  machinery  for  another  flight 

"Pardon  me,"  said  a  man,  who  had  a  withered 
arm  drawn  up  to  his  side  in  such  a  way  as  to  give 
one  the  impression  that  he  was  holding  his  breath ; 
"but,  are  you  going  far,  so  short-handed  ?" 

"Not  far — in  time,"  replied  Theodore. 

"Only  to  Alaska,"  added  Craighead.  "We  meet 
a  Russian  admiral  in  St.  Michael's  at  three.  If 
that  nigger  doesn't  hurry  we  shall  be  late,  General 
— and  what  will  Admiral  Phlaskovodka  say  then?" 

The  man  lifted  his  sailor  hat,  bowed  politely, 
and  stepped  back,  unveiling  a  face  behind  him 
which  Carson  knew — the  foxy,  suspicious  face  of 
Wizner,  the  inventor  of  the  lost  helicopter.  Carson 
stooped  as  if  for  some  casual  purpose,  laid  hold  on 
a  spanner,  and  spoke  to  Craighead,  low,  distinctly, 
intensely. 

"I'm  going  to  get  a  man  in  the  crowd,"  said  Car 
son.  "Guard  the  aeronef!" 

"All  right,"  said  Craighead,  who  had  no  idea  of 
his  full  meaning;  "but  hurry  back.  Remember  the 
admiral." 

With  the  spanner  in  his  hand,  Carson  rose;  and 
with  a  light  leap  he  stood  in  the  midst  of  the  crowd, 
his  face  so  fierce  that  the  throng  flowed  away  like 
water,  leaving  him  in  an  open  space,  like  a  lion 


308    VIRGINIA    OF   THE    AIR    LANES 

in  a  ring  of  foes.  Wizner  had  fled ;  but  through  the 
thinned  crowd  Theodore  saw  his  wiry  figure,  with 
the  arm  that  Virginia's  bullet  had  reached  hang 
ing  in  a  sling,  darting  behind  a  building  as  if  run 
ning  from  death  itself.  With  his  hand  on  his  hip, 
Carson  gave  chase.  Some  one  cried,  "Stop  him!" 
and  an  officer,  seeing  in  Carson  the  only  fugitive 
in  sight,  stopped  him. 

"Let  me  go,"  cried  Carson,  struggling.  "Come 
with  me  and  arrest  a  man  for  attempt  to  murder." 

"That  cock  won't  fight,"  answered  the  policeman. 
"Good  dodge,  but  won't  go  with  me.  What's  he 
done?"  he  inquired,  bringing  Theodore  back. 

Nobody  seemed  to  have  any  definite  complaint 
to  make. 

"He  jumped  out  of  his  air-ship,"  said  one,  "and 
acted  like  he  was  going  to  brain  some  one." 

"Did  he  brain  any  one?"  asked  the  policeman. 

"No,"  replied  the  Mobilian,  "but  he  might." 

"If  he  had  met  any  one  with  brains,"  said  Craig- 
head,  "to  act  as  the  corpus  delicti.  A  braining  re 
quires  a  brainee — a  term  connoting  brains.  Advo- 
catus  Diabolus,  thy  case  is  weak!" 

"Well,"  laughed  the  policeman.  "He  had  a  right 
to  jump  lookin'  as  cross  as  he  pleased." 

"But  he  ran  off,"  persisted  the  Advocatus  Dia 
bolus,  "as  if  pursuing  some  one — " 

"Or  trying  to  get  somewhere,"  supplied  Craig- 


A    RETREAT    FROM    BABYLON      309 

head.  "Aren't  people  here  allowed  to  hurry?  Have 
you  ordinances  against  haste,  O  Guardian  of  the 
Realm?  What's  the  speed  limit  for  pedestrians  in 
Mobile,  anyhow?" 

A  boy  in  a  messenger  cap  interrupted  the  col 
loquy  by  calling  "Mr.  Cahson,  Mr.  Cahson!"  as  if 
"paging"  a  man  in  a  hotel. 

"I'm  Carson,"  said  Theodore.  "What  do  you 
want?" 

"Somebody  on  the  wire  for  you  at  the  telephone 
booth  in  the  hotel,"  replied  the  messenger.  "Wants 
you  at  once." 

"May  I  go?"  asked  Theodore  of  the  policeman. 

"For  all  me,"  replied  the  officer.  "I  don't  want 
you." 

Wondering  who  in  Mobile  might  desire  speech 
with  him,  Carson  said,  "Who's  this?"  into  the  trans 
mitter. 

"Your  old  friend  Wizner,"  said  the  receiver. 
"Crazy  as  ever.  Never  mind  where  I  am;  I'll  tell 
that  after  I've  talked,  if  you  want  me  to — you 
pup!" 

Carson  glared  into  the  receiver  with  crimson  face, 
and  lips  drawn  back  unhandsomely;  then  hastily 
returned  it  to  his  ear,  and  caught  the  middle  of  a 
sentence  about  smuggling. 

"I  didn't  get  that,"  said  Carson. 

"Well,  you'll  get  it,"  said  Wizner,  "if  you  ain't 


3io   VIRGINIA    OF   THE   AIR   LANES 

careful.  You  can  have  me  pinched — but  I  can  prove 
an  alibi.  And  while  I'm  proving  things,  I'll  fix  you 
fellows  for  smuggling;  and  put  Harrod  where  the 
dogs  won't  bite  him ;  and  you,  too !" 

"I  don't  know  anything  about  smuggling,"  pro 
tested  Theodore. 

"Well,"  went  on  Wizner,  "if  you  dig  into  the 
big  sand  hill  with  the  steel  buoy  on  it,  you  will. 
You'll  find  what'll  put  you  in  a  better  trade  than 
putting  me  in  prison  for  a  frolic  with  your  aeronef. 
Oh,  don't  talk  so  innocent!  How  did  you  finance 
your  air-ship,  except  by  free  trade?" 

Carson  had  nothing  to  say.  He  remembered  Cap 
tain  Harrod's  expression  when  Wizner  had  called 
him  an  old  smuggling  fool.  He  remembered  a 
thousand  mysterious  things,  now  made  plain  by  the 
hypothesis  of  Harrod's  having  yielded  to  the  coast 
wise  temptation  of  smuggling.  That  the  old  man 
he  loved  should  be  guilty  of  a  felony  was  bad ;  but 
to  be  in  Wizner's  power  was  worse.  Thus,  thought 
Carson,  while  Wizner  waited  for  his  reply,  uttering 
into  the  instrument  a  sly,  sinister,  exasperating 
chuckle. 

"Lost  your  tongue?"  he  taunted.  "Well,  arrest 
me.  Any  one  can  tell  you  where  I  am ;  but  will  the 
girl  leave  Silberberg  to  come  and  testify?  The 
courtship's  just  getting  good,  now;  too  bad  to  dis 
turb  'em!" 


3" 

Carson  hurled  the  receiver  away  and  strode  back 
to  the  Virginia,  looking  even  more  forbidding  than 
when  he  had  leaped  over  her  side.  As  he  shoved 
through  the  crowd,  he  found  Thomas,  the  negro, 
with  two  men,  hoisting  the  can  of  methanose 
aboard. 

"What  about  those  aeronat  clearings  ?"  he  asked. 

"Hyah's  a  papah  they  give  me,"  said  Thomas. 
"I  reckon  it's  in  that." 

The  sailings  were  not  many.  The  Tern  for  Mem 
phis,  the  Long  Tom  for  St.  Andrews  Bay,  the  Phyll 
is  Y  for  Montgomery ;  and,  yes,  the  Roc  departing 
the  morning  before  "for  northern  points."  Carson 
threw  the  paper  away,  and  Craighead  picked  it  up. 

"We  can  overhaul  the  Tern,"  said  he,  with  a  judi 
cial  air,  "at,  say,  Jackson;  and  take  on  our  friends 
for  Alaska.  I  do  hope  the  president  can  join  us  at 
Omaha !  Gentlemen,"  addressing  the  crowd,  "here 
you  see  a  new  aeronef  invented  by  me.  By  reach 
ing  Alaska  before  nightfall  we  win  a  million  dollars. 
This  is  a  sure  thing,  as  the  sun  will  not  set  there 
for  three  months — the  bet  is  with  a  Brazilian  who 
forgot  about  the  days  coming  quarterly  at  Nome. 
But  we  shall  be  honorable,  and  pay  him  the  million 
on  the  nail  if  we  fail  to  make  it  before  sunset  in 
Rio,  the  real  locus.  To-morrow,  we  shall  win 
five  hundred  thousand  from  Rothschild,  by  leaving 
Greenwich  Observatory  at  sunrise  going  west,  and 


312    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

returning  at  sunrise  next  day  from  the  east — cir 
cling  the  world  in  twenty-four  hours  of  continual 
sunrise.  Wish  us  well,  gentlemen !  At  the  bar  of 
the  Cawthon  we  have  made  arrangements  for  you- 
all  to  be  treated  to  champagne,  if  you  insist  on  it, 
or  to  mineral  water,  if  you  are  wise.  I  have  made  a 
specialty  of  this  champagne  game,  and  I  know. 
Shun  intoxicants,  but  drink  heartily  to  the'triumph 
of  the  Virginia.  Good-by,  honest  peasantry,  your 
country's  pride,  good-by !" 

The  majestic  rise  of  the  Virginia,  with  no  pre 
liminary  run — or  Mr.  Craighead's  parting  promise 
of  vinous  cheer — drew  a  round  of  applause.  Craig- 
head  waved  his  cap;  but  Carson,  paying  no  atten 
tion,  laid  the  Virginia  dead  for  New  York. 

Carson's  manner,  or  the  parting  in  the  narrows, 
depressed  Mr.  Craighead's  mercurial  spirits;  and 
they  were  far  up  the  Alabama  delta  before  he  spoke 
— and  was  rebuffed  by  Carson's  refusal  to  explain 
his  effort  to  "get"  the  man  in  the  crowd.  They 
flew  high ;  and  the  constant  picking  up  and  dropping 
of  railway  trains  and  steamers,  and  the  swift  succes 
sion  of  villages  and  towns  spoke  of  the  fierceness 
with  which  the  Virginia  was  hurled  against  the 
leagues  between  Mobile  and  New  York.  They  left 
Montgomery  to  port  and  Atlanta  to  starboard.  Car 
son  had  assigned  himself  and  Craighead  their  du- 


A  RETREAT  FROM  BABYLON   313 

ties,  and  both  were  busy,  Craighead  at  the  tiller 
with  his  eye  on  the  compass,  Carson  looking  at  every 
working  part,  oiling,  feeling  for  hot  bearings, 
watching  for  the  slightest  quiver  or  jar,  greedy  of 
every  mile.  He  was  cracking  on  too  hard  for  new 
machinery — he  knew  that;  but  he  never  hesitated. 
And  it  was  only  after  they  had  won  through  to 
the  mountains,  and  were  speeding  along  over  the 
great  National  Appalachian  Forest  that  he  relieved 
Craighead. 

That  gentleman  stood  up,  heaved  a  sigh  of  relief, 
and  waved  his  hand  to  the  north  and  west,  where 
fleecy  cumulus  clouds  buttressed  the  horizon  with 
mother-of-pearl. 

"Another  hour  of  that,"  said  he,  "would  have 
made  the  points  of  the  compass  a  subjective  vision 
for  ever.  I  can  see  'E.N.E.'  and  'N.E.  by  N.'  on 
every  pinnacle  of  yon  clouds!  And  now,  sir,  an'  it 
please  thee,  I'll  get  luncheon — if  luncheon  it  can 
properly  be  called  that  costs  less  than  fifty  cents 
per  jack-knife.  Allans!" 

In  the  little  locker  were  found  the  elements  from 
which  Craighead  prepared  the  luncheon  of  bacon, 
eggs  and  coffee,  cooked  on  the  methanose  stove. 
Carson  listened  to  the  engines,  as  a  physician  to 
heart-throbs,  glancing  from  the  compass  to  the 
mountain  domes  of  clouds  in  the  north  and  west. 


314   VIRGINIA   OF   THE   AIR    LANES 

"We  shall  get  into  upper  Atlantic  regions,"  said 
he,  "just  in  time  to  hit  the  area  of  local  storms  to 
night" 

"Tornadoes?"  queried  Craighead,  pouring  out 
the  amber  coffee. 

"Maybe,"  smiled  Carson.  "Severe  local  storms 
always  mean  possible  twisters." 

"Well,"  replied  Craighead,  "what  do  we  care? 
I've  got  me  umbrella,  ye  kneow." 

"That  makes  us  safe,"  replied  Carson.  "The 
worst  we  need  look  for  is  a  good  hard  thunder 
shower;  but  I'd  rather  make  my  first  landing  in 
Manhattan  in  fair  weather." 

"It's  squally  there  with  me  as  soon  as  I  blow  in," 
answered  Craighead.  "Come  to  grub." 

Carson  looked  from  the  tiller  to  the  compass,  and 
hesitated.  He  had  never  tried  letting  the  Virginia 
follow  her  nose  with  the  tiller  lashed. 

"Of  course,"  said  he,  "she'll  fall  off— but  if  she 
turns,  I  can  put  her  back  on  her  course.  I  believe 
I'll  try  her." 

"Do,"  urged  Craighead.  "With  this  fairway,  she 
oughtn't  to  run  into  danger  unless  she's  steerable  by 
heart-throbs  and  subjective  yearnings.  She'd  go 
back,  if  she  was!" 

"She'd  go  straight  on,"  replied  Carson;  "I 
wouldn't  need  to  lash  the  tiller." 

"The  galling  slavery  of  the  crew,"  said  Craig- 


A  RETREAT  FROM  BABYLON   315 

head,  "doesn't  allow  his  telekinesis  to  buck  the  sub 
liminal  brawn  of  the  captain. 

"  'I  go  away  this  blessed  day, 
To  sail  across  the  state,  Matilda; 
My  air-ship  starts  for  various  parts, 
At  twenty  after  eight,  Matilda; 
I  do  not  know  where  we  may  go, 
Or  whether  near  or  far,  Matilda; 
For  Captain  Carson,  don't  make  a  parson, 
Of  any  foremost  tar,  Matilda; 
That  mystic  man  beneath  my  ban, 
Shall  suffer,  cotite  qu'il  cotite,  Matilda; 
What  right  has  he  to  keep  from  me 
The  airy,  scary  route,  Matilda? 
Although,  in  sooth,  I  am  a  youth, 
Of  common  sailor  lot,  Matilda, 
Am  I  a  man  on  human  plan 
Devised,  or  am  I  not,  Matilda?' 

And  echo,  if  there  were  any  place  to  echo  from, 
would  answer,  'Not  Matilda!'  Have  some  of  the 
milk,  while  the  Virginia  chases  her  tail  above  Mr. 
Pinchot's  forest." 

"She  doesn't  chase  her  tail  much,"  replied  Car 
son.  "So  far,  at  least." 

She  did  not.  The  gyroscopes  held  her  on  an 
even  keel,  and  the  altimeter-statoscope  delivered 


316   VIRGINIA    OF   THE   AIR    LANES 

the  verdict  that  the  Virginia  was  following  a  course 
as  level  as  a  battleship's.  The  compass  trembled 
about  the  point  where  Carson  set  it,  as  the  air-ship 
made  minute  deviations  with  changes  in  the  air  cur 
rents,  or  momentarily  lost  coordination  of  the  en 
gines — at  once  corrected  by  the  synchronizer.  She 
was  holding  far  closer  to  her  course  (away  up  there 
in  the  blue)  than  a  schooner  with  lashed  helm  would 
have  done  in  the  steadiest  of  breezes.  Carson  ate, 
watched  the  triumphant  test,  and  forgot  to  frown. 
Save  for  wisps  of  cirrus  clouds  miles  above  them, 
the  sky  was  clear.  Peak  after  peak,  range  after 
range,  village  after  village — and  occasionally  a  big, 
smokeless  town  about  the  national  power  plants  of 
the  Leighton  reservoirs — came  hurrying  toward 
them  from  the  northeast,  passed  beneath  like  visions, 
and  fell  behind  into  the  wake  of  vanished  things. 
The  great  features  of  the  landscape,  the  lake-like 
reservoirs  in  which  were  stored  the  waters  that  in 
former  years  had  desolated  the  valleys  with  floods, 
but  now  were  stored  to  immunize  the  rivers  from 
low  water  and  to  turn  the  laboring  wheels  of  busy 
cities ;  the  bright  green  areas  of  young  trees  where 
the  old  washed-off  mountain  sides  had  been  refor 
ested,  the  far-off  farming  lands,  brown  in  the  unver- 
dured  spring,  or  green  with  the  emerald  of  winter 
wheat;  the  valleys,  ranges,  and  plateaus,  which  lay 
as  distinct  as  on  a  relief-map — all  these  impressed 


A  RETREAT  FROM  BABYLON   317 

themselves  on  the  voyagers  as  the  streets  of  a  village 
on  the  mind  of  a  stranger. 

"I  used  to  think  it  quite  a  trick,"  said  Craig- 
head,  "for  the  birds  to  find  their  way  north  in 
spring;  but,  pshaw!  I  can  do  it  in  the  night  A 
continent  is  as  simple  as  a  quarter-section.  The 
goose  isn't  as  much  wiser  than  I  as  I  always  thought. 
If  Mr.  Bryant  had  come  with  us,  he'd  never  have 
written  To  a  Water-fowl.  There'd  have  been  no 
mystery  in  the  goose's  'certain  flight'  up  here  where 
he  can  see  things." 

"See  that  big  stratus  cloud?"  asked  Carson. 
"Shall  we  go  over  or  under  it?" 

"Personally,"  replied  Craighead.  "I've  been  un 
der  a  cloud  long  enough." 

The  stratus  was  an  immense  vapor  sheet  half 
a  mile  above  the  earth.  Underneath  were  the  gloom 
and  dullness  of  cloudy  weather ;  but  above  it  the  sun 
shone  with  a  brightness  augmented  by  the  brilliancy 
reflected  from  the  upper  surface  of  the  cloud  as 
from  a  great  glittering  plain  of  snow.  The  sun  was 
past  the  meridian,  and  shining  warm;  but  on  the 
wing,  over  that  great  expanse  of  pearl,  the  air  felt 
— not  cold,  but  "caller,"  and  they  put  on  their  top 
coats.  Fields  of  cirro-cumulus  clouds  five  miles 
above  the  vaporous  plain  were  duplicated  on  it  by 
their  own  mottled  shadows,  like  great  clusters  of 
foliage  silhouetted  on  an  illimitable  ground  of  wool. 


318    VIRGINIA    OF   THE    AIR    LANES 

The  shadow  of  the  Virginia  ran  with  her  across  the 
cloud,  like  a  black  bat,  haloed  in  the  unspeakable 
glory  of  a  triple  rainbow  which  ringed  the  scud 
ding  shadow  about  in  concentric  circles,  so  bright, 
so  refulgent  in  dye,  so  glorious  in  their  mingling 
lines,  that  the  voyagers,  glancing  from  radiance  to 
radiance,  lowered  their  voices  to  the  thrill  of  a 
beauty  too  intense  for  speech. 

The  immense  engines  were  moving  more  regu 
larly  than  clockwork,  keeping  the  pledge  of  their 
makers  that,  if  supplied  with  fuel  and  oil,  they  would 
run  without  a  single  stop  until  worn  out — the  per 
fection  of  the  internal  combustion  engine,  once  so 
untrustworthy.  Craighead,  past  the  first  surprise 
of  the  beauty  of  the  cloudscape,  looked  down  at  the 
three  rainbows  which  trailed  behind  them  now  like 
rings  of  lambent  fire,  and  criticized  the  outlook. 

"This  is,  to  coin  a  phrase,"  said  he,  "rotten,  rot 
ten  !  Where  are  those  right  angles  that  make  up 
the  peculiar  allurement  of  the  American  landscape? 
Where  are  the  straight  lines  that  constitute  real 
beauty?  And  not  a  patent  medicine  or  breakfast 
food  sign  as  far  as  we  can  see — rotten !  When  we 
own  these  lanes,  we  must  have  improvements.  In 
stead  of  those  disgusting  rings  of  color,  we  must 
lay  everything  off  in  rectangular  blocks,  and  put  up 
signs  advertising  nice,  airy  lots — magnificent  view — 
in  Stratus  Addition  to  Nimbusville.  We  must 


319 

establish  the  Strato-Cumulus  Club-House  at  the 
Sign  of  the  Hail-Fellow-Well-Met — devoted  to  high 
jinks — for  the  accommodation  of  exalted  person 
ages,  including,  of  course,  the  Air-Apparent  of  the 
Raining  Drynasty.  We  must  open  the  Alto-Stratus 
Opera  House — there  being,  I  believe,  no  Soprano 
clouds  —  and  the  Cumulo-Nimbus  Electric  Com 
pany's  Thunder  Plant;  hey,  Gin'ral?" 

"I'm  glad,"  said  Carson,  "to  get  above  profits. 
Thank  Heaven,  clouds  can't  be  commercialized." 

"Can't,  eh  ?"  sneered  Craighead.  "You  have  made 
good  with  this  machine,  I'll  have  to  admit;  but  you 
lack  financial  resourcefulness.  I've  got  to  dig  out 
the  by-products  of  the  company  myself.  One  of 
them  has  just  occurred  to  me.  We'll  lease  sites  for 
captive  balloons  all  along  our  lanes  of  licensed  air 
navigation,  and  sell  the  right  to  throw  ads  for  John 
son's  Gum  Drops  and  Mother  Hubbard's  Obesity 
Regulator  on  the  shining  levels  of  the  cloud  floor. 
It  can  be  done  by  a  simple  mechanism — if  it  isn't 
invented,  I'll  invent  it  in  an  odd  moment.  And 
we'll  sell  exclusive  rights  to  throw  colored  pictures 
of  Killarney  and  Senator  Clark's  house,  and  moving 
pictures  of  the  great  Sage-Brush  Hen-House  Rob 
bery  on  the  thunder  clouds  in  alternation  with 
praises  of  Peterson's  Planetry  Paint  and  Bugworth's 
Insecticide.  Why,  hang  you,  witless  youth,  let  me 
out,  while  I  work  these  things  up,  right  now!" 


320    VIRGINIA    OF   THE    AIR    LANES 

"I'll  go  down,  and  show  you  where  you'll  drop," 
said  Carson;  "but  I  can't  stop." 

"Going  down?  Floor  below?"  asked  Craighead. 
"Wherefore,  O  brave  skipper?" 

"I  want  to  see  where  we  are,"  said  Carson.  "This 
is  like  an  open  ocean.  I  want  to  compare  the  map 
with  the  landscape." 

Obedient  to  the  tilted  rudders,  the  Virginia 
pointed  her  prow  downward;  her  propeller  blades 
hurled  her  swiftly  forward  and  toward  the  earth, 
and  she  plunged  into  the  cold  steam  of  the  stratus 
cloud,  into  mist  and  white  scarfs  of  lacy  fog,  and 
the  snowy  obscurity  of  an  aerial  blizzard.  Craig- 
head  gasped  at  the  chill  and  the  blindness. 

"Ring  for  a  guide,"  said  he.    "I'm  lost." 

He  was  not  lost  for  long;  for  the  Virginia  clove 
the  fleecy  hoodwink,  and  emerged  through  its  lower 
levels  into  the  clear  shadows  of  the  nether  air.  They 
could  feel  the  warmth  radiated  from  the  ground, 
balmy  with  earthy  scents.  The  landscape  was  ut 
terly  changed.  Far  off  to  the  west  was  the  blue 
line  of  the  highlands,  its  peaks  lost  in  haze.  Below 
were  farms  planted  in  corn  and  wheat  and  tobacco, 
from  which  came  up  the  lowing  of  cattle,  the  crow 
ing  of  cocks,  and,  most  distinct  of  all,  the  barking 
of  dogs.  Far  to  the  northeast  lay  a  shining  river, 
widening  at  the  limit  of  vision  into  a  broad  estu 
ary;  and  just  within  sight  could  be  discerned  the 


A  RETREAT  FROM  BABYLON   321 

clustered  spires  and  towers  of  a  city.    Carson  looked 
the  landscape  over  and  studied  his  map. 

"I  wonder  if  it's  possible,"  said  he,  "that  that's 
Richmond?" 

"If  so,"  answered  Craighead,  "let  me  adopt  Mr. 
Greeley's  war-cry,  'On  to  Richmond !'  But,  to  coin 
an  expression,  what's  the  matter  with  its  being  Phila 
delphia?  It's  so  peaceful  under  its  atmosphere  of 
Quaker  drab.  But  if  not  the  City  of  Brotherly 
Graft,  let's  have  it  Richmond." 

"But  it  must  be  the  James,"  cried  Carson. 
"Craighead,  we've  made  Richmond  three  hours 
quicker  than  I  thought  it  possible!  A  stork,  or  a 
Canada  goose,  couldn't  have  covered  the  distance — 
and  they  sometimes  go  two  hundred  miles  an  hour! 
Why—" 

"Let  us  exult  over  yon  insufferable  plutes,"  cried 
Craighead.  "Let's  fly  rings  around  'em !  Let's  sail 
circles  around  the  snobs !" 

Craighead,  scanning  the  southeast  with  his  field- 
glasses,  had  discovered  at  a  distance  of  six  or  seven 
miles,  a  huge  silver  aeronat  steering  northward 
and  to  its  passengers  he  referred  with  many  ges 
tures.  Carson  trained  his  binoculars  on  her  and 
grew  tense  as  a  greyhound  at  sight  of  a  distant 
wolf.  The  aeronat  was  of  the  Condor  type  and  of 
the  largest  size,  with  bow  rudders,  and  along  her 
side  ran  the  line  of  a  vestigial  aeroplane.  Still  at 


322    VIRGINIA    OF.   THE    AIR    LANES 

the  same  unheard-of  speed,  Theodore  threw  over 
the  tiller  and  made  for  the  air-ship.  Craighead 
looked  at  him  in  wonder. 

"Why  so  obedient,  O  Knight  of  the  Congealed 
Countenance — all  so  suddenly?" 

"That  ship  looks,"  said  Carson,  advancing  the 
spark  and  crowding  the  engines  until  the  wind  of 
flight  swept  the  aeronef  like  a  gale,  "like  the  Roc!" 

After  a  few  moments  on  a  straight  course  to  inter 
sect  that  of  the  aeronat,  Carson  threw  the  Virginia  up 
into  the  cloud.  As  the  earth  was  blotted  from  sight 
he  compared  the  direction  of  the  aeronat  with  the 
points  of  the  compass,  making  a  mental  calculation 
as  to  the  distance  and  the  speed  of  the  two  ships, 
and  in  another  moment  they  emerged  on  the  shining 
upper  levels  of  the  cloud,  which,  like  a  shimmering 
screen  between  the  Virginia  and  the  other  craft,  hid 
their  approach  to  each  other.  One  below  the  cur 
tain  and  one  above  it,  the  air-ship  of  the  future  and 
the  air-ship  of  the  past  flew  on  converging  courses. 
Carson  held  his  watch  as  it  ticked  off  the  time  for 
the  five  or  six  miles  of  distance,  set  the  rudders  for 
a  downward  dip,  plunged  through  the  cloud  for  the 
third  time,  and  darted  downward  out  of  the  vapor 
like  a  swift  into  a  chimney. 

They  looked  about — and  saw  nothing.  The  aero 
nat  was  invisible.  And  yet,  above  the  purring  of 
the  machinery,  came  to  their  ears  the  tremor  from 


A  RETREAT  FROM  BABYLON   323 

powerful  engines,  the  whirring  of  screws  close  at 
hand.  Could  the  Condor  have  ascended  into  the 
cloud  as  they  descended  from  it?  It  was  possible, 
but  the  sounds  were  approaching,  not  receding;  and 
voices  now  mingled  with  the  sounds  of  machinery — 
voices  coming  closer  and  closer. 

"My  God,  Carson !"  shouted  Craighead.  "You're 
going  foul  of  her.  Look  down !" 

Just  in  time  Carson  looked.  From  the  clear 
depths  of  air  below,  the  great  bubble  of  silver  rose, 
swelling  in  her  swift  approach.  A  collision  meant 
ruin  for  the  aeronat,  and  probably  destruction  to 
the  Virginia.  The  propelling  blades  of  the  aeronef 
would  cut  the  envelop  of  the  gas-holder  like  paper; 
and  the  two  ships,  in  a  huge  mass  of  tangled  wreck 
age,  would  fall  to  the  earth  in  death  and  ruin ;  or 
the  escaping  gas  from  the  aeronat,  ignited  from  the 
exhaust  of  the  Virginia's  engines,  might  explode, 
hurling  the  fragments  of  both  vessels  far  and  wide 
— and  Carson  saw  in  the  ruin  the  fair  form  of  Vir 
ginia  Suarez  hurled  to  earth  and  crushed  to  form 
lessness  below. 

There  was  no  time  to  check  their  downward  ca 
reer;  salvation  lay  solely  in  a  swift  dart  to  evade 
the  rising  peril.  Quick  as  lightning  Carson  threw 
on  full  speed  forward.  The  Virginia  obeyed  her 
machinery — and  as  she  swooped  to  the  aeronat's 
starboard,  the  latter  rose  swiftly;  the  Virginia's 


324    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

stern  rudder  grazed  the  gas-bag  and  was  all  but 
carried  away;  a  cord  of  the  suspension  system  of 
the  air-ship  snapped  with  a  detonation  that  set  the 
huge  fabric  in  a  tremble;  there  rose  a  cry  from  the 
deck  of  the  hitherto  unconscious  monster,  as  her 
people  realized  the  fearful  fact  that  here  in  these 
dizzy  heights  they  were  in  collision  with  something; 
and  as  the  Virginia  came  in  sight  past  the  immense 
bilge,  they  saw  white  visages  turned  upward  to 
them,  as  might  appear  the  doomed  traveler's  face 
when  assailed  by  the  roc  of  Arab  fable;  and  as  they 
sheered  off,  a  man  came  running  out  of  the  cabin 
with  a  gun  in  his  hand,  as  if  with  some  wild  notion 
of  giving  battle  to  the  invisible  destroyer  which  had 
swept  down  upon  them  from  the  fleecy  heights  of 
the  cloud. 

The  Virginia  was  half  a  mile  from  the  air-ship 
before  the  crew  of  the  latter  had  time  to  assure 
themselves  of  her  safety.  The  great  aeronat  had 
not  changed  her  course,  but  was  still  cracking  on  at 
the  height  of  her  speed  toward  Richmond — like  a 
whale  at  which  a  swordfish  had  made  a  vicious  slash 
and  missed.  The  Virginia  went  astern  as  well  as 
athwart  the  course  of  the  other  craft,  and  as  she 
sheered  to  starboard,  the  aeronef  and  the  aeronat 
sped  from  each  other  at  the  sum  of  their  two  speeds 
— perhaps  four  miles  a  minute.  The  people  on  the 
latter  must  have  thought  the  other  gone  for  ever, 


325 

when  an  astounding  thing  happened.  The  aeronef 
wheeled  about  and  gave  chase — nay,  she  gave  chase 
so  swiftly  that  she  swelled  visibly  in  her  swift  over 
hauling  of  the  aeronat.  In  a  time  so  short  that 
it  seemed  like  a  breath,  the  Virginia,  on  a  level 
now  with  the  other's  deck,  came  in  close  astern,  then 
sheered  off  and  deliberately  ran  around  the  big  Con 
dor  as  she  stood  on  her  course  at  full  speed.  As  a 
falcon  might  describe  circles  about  the  head  of  the 
hawker,  the  Virginia  went  about  the  Condor.  As 
she  crossed  the  bows  a  cry  went  out  from  the  great 
ship's  engine-room — a  cry  of  mingled  fear  and 
astonishment — astonishment  that  any  aerial  craft 
dared  lay  herself  across  a  speeding  Condor's  bows, 
fear  of  a  collision,  and  the  dread  which  comes  to 
those  who  see  themselves  in  the  power  of  another. 
Why  did  this  new  craft  so  course  about  them?  It 
was  some  new  engine  of  aviation — that  was  sure. 
And  with  such  incredible  speed  and  such  un 
heard-of  mobility,  what  more  profitable  trade  could 
open  to  her  than  the  aerial  hunt  and  spoiling  of 
the  "dirigibles,"  with  their  passenger  lists  of  mil 
lionaires? 

So  as  Carson  came  up  on  his  second  circumnavi 
gation  of  the  Condor,  there  stood  at  the  rail  of  the 
big  air-ship  two  or  three  men  with  guns,  who  made 
threatening  gestures  and  shouted  to  him  to  stand 
off  or  they  would  shoot. 


326    VIRGINIA    OK   THE    AIR    LANES 

"What  ship  is  that?"  cried  Carson. 

"None  of  your  damn  business !"  was  the  reply. 
"You  stand  off  or  we'll  shoot!" 

"Shoot,  if  you  dare!"  cried  Carson.  "Don't  you 
see  that  I  can  go  above  where  you  can't  shoot  and 
rip  your  gas-bag  in  perfect  safety?  Come  now, 
answer  my  question.  Why,  confound  it,  if  I  wanted 
to  do  you  any  harm,  don't  you  see  you're  in  my 
power?  Don't  be  silly." 

Something  in  the  boy's  tone  reassured  the  aero- 
nat. 

"This  is  the  Dcedalus  of  Spokane,"  was  the  reply. 
"What  devilish  thing  is  that?" 

"The  Virginia  of — of  Carson's  Landing  in  Ala 
bama,"  replied  Theodore. 

"You  will  pardon  us  for  our  abrupt  descent  to 
your  level,"  said  Craighead  suavely.  "Ordinarily, 
the  Virginia  prefers  a  higher  plane.  We  were 
strictly  in  nubibus  a  moment  ago,  and  on  materializ 
ing  we  found  ourselves  descending  on  you  like  a 
duck  on  a  June-bug.  We  busted  one  of  your  suspen 
sion  cords — for  which  we  are  sorry;  but  the  gods 
bump  into  things  when  they  come  down  from  Olym 
pus." 

"Whose  aeronef  is  that?"  asked  the  man  who 
seemed  in  command. 

"It's  mine,"  said  Theodore;  "I  built  her." 

"Well,"  said  the  man  on  the  other  deck,  "you've 


A  RETREAT  FROM  BABYLON   327 

got  the  world  by  the  tail ;  and  if  you  need  money  to 
swing  it,  just  apply  to  Calvin  J.  Fry  of  Spokane — 
if  you've  got  clear  title  to  the  mechanism." 

"Thank  you,"  said  Theodore.  "I  thought  you 
might  be  an  acquaintance.  I  think  we'll  leave  you, 
now." 

"But  wait,"  said  Mr.  Fry.  "Let  me  handle  your 
foreign  rights.  I  can  get  next.  I  know  the  Japa 
nese  foreign  minister;  and  China's  looking  for 
something  like  that.  Hold  on — Hatton,  will  you  let 
a  mechanical  devil's-darning-needle  like  that  leave 
the  D&daliis  behind  as  if  anchored?  Hold  on, 
please — " 

But  the  Virginia,  gently  increasing  her  speed, 
left  the  hustling  Calvin  J.  Fry  gesticulating  far  out 
of  hearing. 

"That,  to  originate  a  locution,"  said  Craighead, 
"ought  to  hold  them  for  a  brief  period.  Looks  as 
if  they  were  back-pedaling." 

"I  will  find  them,"  said  Carson,  evidently  mean 
ing  something  else,  "if  they  have  hidden  her  in  the 
farthest  cave  of  that  thunder  cloud." 

"Highly  improbable,  deown't  ye  kneow,"  sug 
gested  Craighead,  "that  they  should  select  such  a 
demnition  insanitary  place  for  the  young  person. 
Doubtless  we'll  run  across  'em  in  New  York.  By 
the  way — dinner !  I  have  the  honor  to  report  that 
the  ship  is  without  grub,  and  is  starving!" 


328    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

"I  shall  not  stop/'  said  Theodore,  "this  side  of 
New  York." 

"Very  well,  sir,"  said  Craighead,  "I  still  have  my 
boot  heels.  Doubtless  I  shall  do  very  well  with 
them.  I  suppose  you  see  that  we  are  butting  into 
weather,  dead  ahead  and  on  both  bows?" 

"Certainly.    It's  the  area  of  local  storms." 

Past  Richmond,  they  left  the  domed  capitol  at 
Washington  far  to  port,  passed  between  Baltimore 
and  Dover,  and  directly  over  Philadelphia,  where 
Carson  made  a  wide  circle  above  the  vast  aerial 
harbor,  scanning  the  berths  for  a  huge  silver  ae'ro- 
nat  of  the  Condor  type — but  rinding  none.  It  was 
growing  dusk,  and  the  west  and  northwest  were 
ramparted  with  towering  thunder-heads,  quivering 
with  lightning,  toward  which  Carson  hurled  the 
Virginia  like  a  bullet.  The  town-studded  suburban 
region  of  New  Jersey  swept  under  them  as  if  drawn 
by  swift  mechanism;  and  the  harbor  of  New  York 
lay  beneath,  alive  with  shipping.  The  lights  were 
already  burning,  and  the  far-spread  Babylon  of  the 
modern  world  hung  like  a  fairy  dream  from  the 
foreground  to  the  farther  rim  of  the  concave  cup 
of  the  earth.  The  castellated  marge  of  the  city  stood, 
incredibly  lofty,  clear  to  the  water's  edge,  reared 
so  high  in  air  as  to  challenge  the  air-ship  itself  in 
altitude.  Carson  was  amazed  and  stunned.  He 
had  never  seen  New  York,  and  his  ideas  were  all 


A  RETREAT  FROM  BABYLON   329 

inadequate  to  the  actualities  before  him.  The  streets 
flashed  into  sight  as  the  Virginia  passed  into  posi 
tions  permitting  a  view  of  the  bottom  of  one  metro 
politan  canon  after  another — flashed  into  view  as 
long  lines  of  arc-lights  and  gorgeous  electric  signs — 
a  perfectly  unimaginable  tangle  and  jungle  of  lights 
of  all  colors ;  and  then  the  soaring  craft  would  pass 
on,  the  streets  would  be  snuffed  out  by  the  tall  build 
ings — the  illuminated  roofs  and  towering  cliffs  of 
lighted  windows  becoming  a  great  plain  of  glim 
mering  constellations.  The  boy  was  afraid — the 
huge  city,  roaring  up  at  them  like  a  ravening  beast 
struck  him  with  terror.  It  was  so  unreal,  so  sinister, 
so  like  a  gorgeous  nightmare  of  feverish  human 
achievement,  that  it  seemed  unthinkable  that  it 
could  hold  for  him  aught  but  danger  and  struggle, 
and,  perhaps,  defeat. 

"Why  dost  circle  about  like  a  sand-hill  crane?" 
said  Craighead.  "Why  don't  you  'light?" 

"Like  the  sand-hill  crane,"  replied  Carson,  "I'm 
afraid.  Where  can  we  alight?" 

"Gad !"  said  Craighead,  "I  never  thought  of  that! 
New  York  has  always  reached  out  for  me  so  lov 
ingly,  that  the  idea  of  there  being  any  difficulty  in 
getting  into  her  embrace  never  entered  my  brain. 
We  are  a  little  shy  of  knowledge  of  how  to  get  in 
from  above,  aren't  we?" 

"What  are  the  harbor  rules?"  asked  Carson. 


330   VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

"Hanged  if  I  know,"  replied  Craighead.  "TKe 
ground  has  always  seemed  adequate  as  a  way  in 
before.  Can't  you  follow  the  crowd?" 

"There's  not  an  air-ship  to  be  seen,"  said  Car 
son.  "They've  been  driven  in  by  the  night  and  the 
weather.  Is  it  safe  to  drop  into  any  harbor  we  may 
happen  to  find?" 

"What  else  are  we  to  do  ?"  cried  Craighead.  "It's 
coming  on  to  storm;  and  I'm  hungry;  and  there's 
the  Great  White  Way  beckoning!  We  must  land." 

"No,"  replied  Carson,  "I'm  afraid.  And  I  think 
it  better  by  all  means  to  go  out  to  the  country,  and 
come  into  New  York  by  day.  And  that's  what  I'm 
going  to  do." 

It  was  quite  dark  now,  save  for  the  moon,  whicH, 
nearly  full,  was  climbing  the  eastern  sky,  still  clear. 
The  land  to  the  south  and  east  would  escape  the 
storm  for  hours.  To  the  northwest  towered  the 
pearly  clouds  palpitant  with  lightning.  Craighead, 
complainingly  assenting  to  his  companion's  plan  of 
retreat  from  Manhattan  until  day,  expected  Theo 
dore  to  turn  the  Virginia  from  foul  weather  to  some 
far  New  Jersey  village;  and  was  astonished  when 
he  entered  upon  a  swift  flight  up  the  Hudson,  which 
lay  shining  in  the  moonlight,  laced  with  the  wakes 
of  boats.  Far  ahead,  on  both  sides,  quivered  the 
lightning  of  the  storm;  and  from  afar  came  the 
rumbling  of  thunder.  Carson  seemed  to  be  seeking 


A  RETREAT  FROM  BABYLON   33 1 

night  in  the  heart  of  a  thunder-storm.  Craighead 
seized  his  arm  and  tried  to  glean  something  of  his 
mood  from  a  scrutiny  of  his  face. 

"I  know  how  impolite  it  is  to  ask  about  such 
aberrations,"  said  he,  "from  experience.  But  may 
I  inquire  why  you  seem  determined  to  enter  upon 
an  unseemly  frolic  with  the  Storm  King?  No,  by 
James,  you've  passed  the  Storm  King,  and  you've 
headed  for  the  Catskills — the  confoundedest  place 
for  thunder  and  lightning  in  these  parts.  What 
about  you  ?" 

"I'm  going  to  the  Catskills,"  said  THeodore.  "Be 
fore  I  sleep,  I'm  going  to  find  Shayne's  Hold!" 


CHAPTER   XVI 
SHAYNE'S   HOLD 

WITH    a    complaining,    mutinous    crew, 
and  a  captain  sullenly  silent,  the  Vir 
ginia  fared  north  along  the  Hudson 
witH  her  cargo  of  dreams  and  fears.    Theodore,  at 
the  tiller,  between  glances  at  the  compass  and  the 
chart,  watched  the  silver  ribbon  of  the  river  broad 
ening  into  the  placid  lake  of  Tappan  Zee,  contract 
ing  to  a  thread  between  Peekskill  and  West  Point, 
and  lost  altogether  in  a  sheet  of  rain  that  roared 
down  across  Poughkeepsie.  -i 

"I  never  supposed,"  remarked  Craighead,  as  they 
passed  far  east  of  West  Point  to  escape  the  thunder 
storm,  "that  I'd  ever  be  able  to  look  so  scornfully 
down  on  this  cradle  of  our  nation's  heroism  and 
flubdub,  which  lost  its  chief est  jewel  when  it  ex 
pelled  me.  Proud  nest  of  warriors  with  indrawn 
stomachs,  I  scorn  ye!  If  I  knew  where  ye  were, 
within  a  league  or  so,  I'd  shake  off  the  dust  of  my 
feet  against  ye.  I  laugh  in  your  upturned  face — 
ha  ha!" 

332 


SHAYNE'S    HOLD  333 

Carson  was  still  silent,  as  he  avoided  the  local 
shower  that  drenched  the  decks  of  the  night  boats, 
gained  its  rear,  crossed  the  Hudson  in  a  slow  drizzle 
at  Kingston  and  stood  northwest  toward  heavy 
dense  masses  of  towering  clouds,  vivid  with  inces 
sant  lightning,  screening  the  high  peaks  of  the  Cats- 
kills — and  Shayne's  Hold. 

"I'm  distinctly  for  this  trip  now!"  cried  Craig- 
head.  "Talk  about  excitement!  Why,  when  before 
did  man  that  is  born  of  woman  make  a  night  flight 
into  the  whither,  dodging  thunder-storms  by  the 
way  ?  What  is  more  elevating  than  to  cast  contempt 
into  the  teeth  of  the  elements  by  dancing  up  into 
the  very  front  of  a  cloud-burst,  and  getting  away  by 
superior  foot- work?  The  watery  kingdom  whose 
ambitious  head  spits  in  the  face  of  Heaven — why 
it's  modest  and  retiring  compared  with  us!  The 
armies  of  the  tempest  encamp  against  us,  they  com 
pass  us  about,  they  vaunt  their  strength  even  as  a 
gladiator,  they  speak  in  thunder  across  the  leagues, 
saying,  'Let  the  left  wing  advance  yonder,  and  the 
right  wing  hold  the  hills,  while  the  center  rushes  in 
with  the  trampling  charge  of  its  wind  and  down 
pour — and  we  shall  get  these  mortals,  good  and 
plenty  P  Arid  then  we  outflank  them  on  the  east  and 
give  them  the  contumelious  ha-ha,  and  hang  on  their 
rear  threatening  their  communications  with  Medi 
cine  Hat  and  Kamloops,  by  James !  And  if  they  do 


334   VIRGINIA   OE   THE    AIR    LANES 

surround  us,  we'll  rise  into  the  inane — as  has  fre 
quently  been  my  habit  anyhow — and  we'll  soar  over 
the  topmost  domes  of  their  encampment  of  destruc 
tion  and  dampness  and  statical  electricity,  and  we'll 
drop  down  outside  the  lines — dry  within  and  with 
out.  This  is  sport  for  a  king  or  a  hippogriff.  On, 
on,  say  I,  and  yet  again,  on !" 

"That's  all  right  as  pure  fancy,"  replied  Carson, 
"but  if  we  ever  get  hemmed  in  among  these  storms, 
we'll  not  get  out  by  going  over  them." 

"Why  not?"  asked  Craighead.  "I'll  not  hear  that 
there  are  limits  to  the  achievements  of  this  flying 
exclamation-point,  for  the  prospecti  upon  which  I 
am  mentally  engaged  must  speak  of  the  pleasures 
of  tornado-baiting,  and  the  following  of  the  spoor 
of  the  typhoon  and  the  sirocco.  Why  not  hurdle  the 
tempest,  caitiff?" 

"Those  highest  towers,"  replied  Carson,  pointing 
to  the  thunder-heads  now  again  snowy  in  the  moon 
light,  "are  thirty,  forty,  fifty  thousand  feet  high." 

"Well,  what  do  we  care?"  protested  Craighead. 
"It  wouldn't  hurt  any  more  to  fall  that  far,  than 
from  where  we  are.  Come,  better  logic,  sirrah !" 

"The  upper  strata,"  said  Carson,  "are  snow  and 
ice  and  frost." 

"Better  to  feel  a  frost,"  said  Craighead,  "than  to 
be  one,  Sir  Dagonet.  Come,  thou'rt  unhorsed !" 

"And  the  atmosphere  up  there,"  went  on  Carson, 


SHAYNE'S    HOLD  335 

"is  too  rare  for  the  Virginia's  foothold;  or  for 
breath.  Before  we  got  above  those  domes,  the  en 
gines  would  be  put  to  it  to  keep  her  at  a  standstill." 

"Then,  sir,"  said  Craighead,  "you  have  enlisted 
the  great,  safe,  sane  and  conservative  Craighead  in 
a  wildcat  promotion  of  a  machine  in  which,  in  sur 
mounting  an  ordinary  thunder-head,  we  shall  be  suc 
cessively  stalled,  frozen  to  death,  and  suffocated! 
Am  I  right,  Colonel  Carson?" 

1  Carson  was  questioning  the  altimeter-statoscope 
as  to  whether  or  not  their  altitude  would  carry  them 
over  the  peaks  which  must  now  be  fast  rising  be 
neath  them.  Far  to  the  north  glowed  the  lights  of 
some  great  hotel  like  a  swarm  of  stationary  fireflies. 
Beneath  was  darkness  and  mystery,  though  once  he 
heard  a  dog's  bark — the  last  sound  lost  in  aerial 
traveling.  Craighead  waited  as  if  for  a  reply. 

"By  your  silence,"  said  he,  "you  confess.  Let  me 
out.  I  am  hurt  to  the  heart.  To  have  fooled  away 
so  much  time  on  such  a  dinky  thing!  Let  me  out! 
I  would  fain  walk  back  to  Sherry's." 
j  The  simile  of  an  advancing  army  quite  obviously 
described  the  approaching  storm.  Like  a  vast  arch 
the  clouds  marched  on,  covering  the  mountains  far 
to  right  and  left,  the  black  nimbus  on  which  they 
were  based  sweeping  the  earth  with  a  trailing  veil 
of  rain.  By  abandoning  the  Catskills,  the  aeronef 
might  have  evaded  the  struggle,  but  her  commander 


336   VIRGINIA    OF   THE   AIR    LANES 

seemed  to  have  no  notion  of  retreat.  Though*  terri 
fied  by  the  lights  and  towers  and  multitudinous  life 
of  New  York,  he  drove  his  craft  unshrinkingly  into 
the  teeth  of  thunder  and  lightning  and  wind  and 
rain. 

"Put  on  your  oilskins,"  said  he  to  Craighead. 

"It's  humiliating,"  said  Craighead,  "but  I  reckon 
I  must" 

"There's  an  opening  yonder  in  the  rain,"  said 
Carson.  "If  it  doesn't  close  up,  we  may  slip 
through  to  the  back  of  the  storm  again !" 

As  if  the  wings  of  the  advancing  army  had  ex 
tended  its  lines  until  they  pulled  apart  in  the  cen 
ter,  the  rain  opened  where  Carson  pointed.  At  that 
moment  the  whole  heaven  was  black,  save  where 
the  moon,  now  riding  high,  touched  the  cloud-sum 
mits  with  silver;  but  in  an  instant  a  sudden  dis 
charge  of  looped  and  linked  lightning  lit  up  the 
whole  northwest,  and  Craighead  saw  through  to  the 
rear  of  the  rain  as  through  a  window,  the  base  of 
which  was  the  hills,  its  upper  limit  a  straight  hori 
zontal  line  of  black  nimbus,  its  sides  misty  and  in 
definite  with  encroaching  downpour. 

"We  must  go  lower,"  said  Carson,  "and  pass  un 
der.  The  rain  is  closing  in;  but  I  reckon  we  can 
slip  through,  pretty  dry." 

The  on-coming  black  arch — lighted  to  whiteness 
when  the  lightning  blazed — swelled  fearfully  as 


-    '.•'/.-'.;  r.7 

its  ratnlew  «tp  aarrowtn*  jaao- 


afcy,  if  ffef  lost,  was,  to  be 


that.   The  curtaiai  of  water,  drawn 
let  tiie  travelers  tiiro«g^i,  fwiatig'  to^rfbcr  a 
approached.   Tbe  edges  of  the  ckttd  cwifli 
svfled  by  t&e  CMtaMfiof  CKrrects,  the  K<jfat™™%  be 
came  alaKMt  JSKHKMfc. 

"Whoop  r  cried  Cra£g!i«ad.  Tbe  Ftr.fBB*  »»! 
I  gocs»  IH  stay  m  this  deal  for  a  while  after  all! 
Cteef  Hdr  •thrCUW,  1  <«qr  say  fealty  r 


h*  P9q0M&4ki 

•  jpfa~    *o  left  asjd  right  t 

vcalai  !••»  IsssWd  by  the  torrential  dowsjsisw 
bowing  in  Ac  stem  tfsjsj^  while  a 
roar  rose  from  the  earth,  Hire 

Niagara.  There  was  a  moment  of  tfe < 

of  huge  drops  wrdi  strokes  Kke  hailstooes; 

VirgnaA  slipped  th  rough  tike  thinned  pfcalarrr 

tibe  rain  and  winged  her  way  oo — only  to  f 

self  face  to  face  with  a  strosveran 

first    Tower»fj  so  h 


•vfldi  Mvfiw  sfcssd^f  Me 


338    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

for  surrender — if  we  can  find  an  inn.  Some  would 
be  a  live  coward  rather  than  a  dead  hero,  but  I'd 
rather  be  a  live  tumble-bug  than  a  dead  anything. 
Come,  brave  Southron,  surrender!  Let's  to  an 
'otel." 

Carson  laughed — thinking  of  Shayne's  Hold,  and 
conjecturing  as  to  its  whereabouts.  If  he  read  his 
chart  correctly,  the  lights  seen  afar  to  the  north 
east  indicated  that  they  had  left  the  Kaaterskill  be 
hind,  and  were  nearing  Black  Head  Mountains — 
though  he  confessed  to  himself  that  the  crags  re 
vealed  by  the  lightning  might  be  the  Hunter  Peaks, 
or  even  the  summits  of  Slide  Mountain.  All  he 
really  knew  was  that  he  was  above  the  Catskills, 
and  that  unless  he  could  out-manceuver  the  elements, 
they  faced  an  encounter  with  rain,  wind  and  great 
possibilities  in  the  way  of  lightning.  The  domes  of 
thunder-cloud  a  few  miles  to  their  right  seemed  al 
most  low  enough  to  be  overpassed;  so  he  set  the 
levers  for  an  ascent;  and  the  Virginia  rose  like  an 
osprey  chased  by  an  eagle. 

"Which  way  doe-  that  shoot  us,"  queried  Craig- 
head,  " — if  a  foremast  tar  may  inquire?" 

"Forty-five  degrees  up,"  answered  Carson. 

"Afraid  of  contamination  by  low  associations,  or 
what?" 

"I'm  trying  your  suggestion,"  answered  Carson. 
"I'm  scaling  the  front  of  that  shower." 


SHAYNE'S    HOLD  339 

"Thank  you,"  said  Craighead.  "A  dash  into  a 
blizzard  may  give  me  an  appetite.  Oh,  for  a  hard- 
boiled  hailstone!  .  .  .  But  man,  man,  the  au 
dacity  of  it !" 

Even  Craighead's  voice  was  hushed  in  awe.  Like 
the  fairy  domes  of  some  city  of  oriental  fable,  rose 
the  cloud-castles,  their  summits  white  in  the  moon 
light,  their  folds  dark  like  a  dove's  wing.  Suddenly 
the  lightning  blazed  out  in  the  heart  of  the  black 
base  on  which  the  city  of  enchantment  was  reared; 
and  instantly  the  whole  vast  fabric  grew  white  and 
palpitant  and  terrible,  while  the  blue  sky  beyond  and 
above  it  turned  black  velvet  by  contrast.  The  light 
ning  ceased;  and  there  hung  the  billowy  cloud, 
silver-white  and  drab  on  a  base  of  darkness  as  be 
fore;  and  climbing  toward  the  pearly  summit  like  a 
black  insect  winging  its  way  over  a  mountain-top, 
soared  the  audacious  air-ship,  seen  of  no  eye  but 
that  of  the  Infinity  of  the  infinite  spaces  whose  ar 
cana  it  dared  invade;  while,  as  if  to  turn  back  the 
intruders,  the  lofty  ramparts  were  momently  reared 
higher  and  higher,  new  towers  surmounting  those  of 
a  few  moments  before,  old  domes  curving  toward  the 
zenith  as  if  boiled  up  from  beneath — as  they  were. 
He  who  will  watch  the  ascension  and  inflation  of 
the  thunder-clouds  of  an  increasing  storm  will  see 
the  impossibility  against  which  the  Virginia  was 
pitted  by  her  presumptuous  builder. 


For  it  was  an  impossibility.  The  air  had  grown 
chill  as  with  frost,  and  still  the  clouds  were  far 
above  them.  The  bite  of  the  propellers  on  the  air 
seemed  to  fail;  for  the  cloud  masses  no  longer  ap 
peared  to  fall,  as  when  the  aeronef  was  rising. 

"We  can't  make  it,"  said  Carson. 

"Don't  try!"  exclaimed  Craighead.'  "It's  ef 
frontery  !" 

Changing  a  lever  or  so,  Carson  drove  straight 
toward  the  pearly  bosom  of  the  cloud.  He  was  far 
above  that  level  line  from  which  the  spectator  of  a 
storm  sees  falling  the  fringe  of  rain,  and  among  the 
rounded  masses  of  the  lower  cumulus.  The  Virginia 
again  seemed  to  make  speed ;  for  the  clouds  swooped 
down  on  the  aeronef  visibly,  as  if  to  destroy  her; 
over  them  went  the  murky  pinions  of  the  squall, 
and  then  came  darkness  and  cold  in  which  they 
swam  through  blinding  and  beating  sheets  of  rain 
and  huge  vortices  of  chill  mist.  Sudden  darkness 
wrapped  them,  torn  through  with  still  more  sudden 
light,  so  blinding,  so  prismatic  that  it  smote  the  eye 
balls  like  a  whip,  as  a  tremendous  discharge  of  flame 
cut  through  the  cloud  like  an  archangel's  sword — 
its  slashing  blow  barely  missing  the  speck  of  man- 
made  mechanism  which  blindly  felt  its  way 
through  the  lair  of  the  lightning,  like  a  shallop  in 
the  home  of  the  Midgard  Snake.  The  thunder 
pealed  out  in  a  swift,  tearing  crash,  sudden  as  a 
gunshot.  The  metallic  points  of  the  Virginia  blazed 


SHAYNE'S    HOLD  341 

with  white  flame.  The  electric  lights  winked  out  like 
closed  eyes,  and  then  shone  forth  again.  The  men 
felt  tinglings  in  their  fingers  and  toes,  their  hair 
stood  out  stiff  as  if  frozen  while  wet — and  then 
came  back  the  darkness,  the  cold,  the  rain  and  mist, 
and  the  beating  of  the  wind. 

Carson  sat  with  his  hand  on  his  levers,  pale  as  if 
dead;  Craighead  clutched  a  hand-rail,  his  eyes 
turned  aloft  as  if  in  invocation.  A  more  remote 
flash,  and  darkness  returned,  but  not  so  densely;  the 
space  before  them  grew  softly  light;  and  in  a  mo 
ment  they  swam  into  the  moonlight  above  great 
masses  of  woolpack,  nacreous  like  the  inside  of  a 
shell  and  etched  with  the  shadow  of  the  Virginia, 
surrounded  by  a  glorious  lunar  bow. 

All  about  towered  the  higher  clouds  like  those 
through  which  they  had  come.  Ahead  was  a  great 
cavern,  miles  in  height,  into  which  they  winged 
their  way  like  a  bat  into  its  cave.  But  this  grotto 
was  neither  dark  nor  noisome,  but  whitely  shadowy, 
with  huge  stalactites  dangling  from  a  roof  so  high 
that  one  almost  expected  to  see  imprisoned  stars 
under  it.  Rising  from  the  abysmal  hollows  of  the 
cavern  floor  towered  immense  stalagmites,  thousands 
of  feet  high;  and  under  the  diffused  light  of  the 
moon,  reflected  into  the  cave  mouth  from  the  ala 
baster  fields  astern,  and  multiplied  in  the  colorless 
spaces  of  the  enormous  chamber,  the  stalactites  and 
stalagmites  changed,  melted  away,  reformed,  and 


342    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

detaching  themselves,  floated  away  in  broken  masses. 
In  all  this  memorable  voyage  nothing  else  was  so 
incomprehensibly  immense,  so  beautiful  as  this ;  but 
it  lasted  for  a  few  moments  only.  Through  the 
immeasurable  chamber  of  cloud  darted  the  aeronef, 
into  a  second  smother  of  rain  and  mist,  and  out  on 
a  lower  level,  into  the  calm  space  behind  the  storm ; 
where,  under  a  sheet  of  low-lying  vapor  from  which 
dropped  the  last  of  the  rain,  lay  the  peaks  of  the 
mountains,  high,  craggy,  jostling  the  lower  clouds. 
From  this  region  of  shadow  they  emerged  into  the 
moonlight  again,  and  began  their  search  for  signs 
of  human  habitation — a  quest  seemingly  hopeless, 
not  from  any  lack  of  houses,  but  from  the  unlikeli 
hood  of  rinding  the  one  place  sought  Even  by  day 
it  might  not  have  been  easy.  Yet  the  Virginia, 
systematically  scouting,  no  longer  pursued  her  flight 
like  a  migrating  bird,  but  flew  here  and  there  as  if 
for  prey.  At  every  lightning  flash,  Carson  peered 
about  for  white  walls,  open  pools,  or  other  signs  of 
so  rich  a  dwelling.  Wherever  the  scarped  mountain 
side  simulated  masonry,  they  hovered  and  made 
sure  it  was  not  a  wall.  Finally,  just  as  Theodore 
was  at  the  point  of  retreat,  both  at  once  saw  what 
neither  doubted  was  Shayne's  Hold. 

The  Hold  was  on  the  triple  peak  of  one  of  the 


SHAYNE'S    HOLD  343 

ruggedest  and  highest  masses  of  the  Catskills,  rising 
steep  as  a  wall,  hundreds  of  feet  in  the  air,  to  three 
summits,  in  the  midst  of  which  stood  the  mansion. 
Soil  from  below  had  been  placed  in  the  hollow 
between  the  peaks,  and  gardens  planted  in  it.  The 
huge  buildings  had  been  built;  the  animals  had 
been  introduced;  the  last  luxury  had  been  sup 
plied — and  Shayne's  Hold  had  been  sealed  up. 
Down  from  the  mountain  flowed  three  streams,  up 
which  had  run  the  precipitous  roads  to  the  top; 
and  when  the  time  came  for  closing  the  Hold  to 
those  who  had  no  way  of  navigating  the  air,  Mr. 
Shayne  had  built  across  them  immense  dams,  using 
materials  blasted  from  the  mountain  sides  at  such 
places  as  to  render  quite  unscalable  every  place 
where  ascent  might  have  been  possible  before.  The 
steepened  precipices  thus  carried  across  the  ravines 
in  masonry  made  a  lofty  wall  entirely  around  the 
mountain.  The  water  filled  up  the  abysses  behind 
the  dams;  and  thus,  where  roads  had  been,  were 
now  deep  lakes,  stocked  with  fish,  and  cruised  over 
by  every  craft  which  sail  or  oar  or  motor  might  fit 
for  ministry  to  luxury  and  pleasure. 

The  dams  furnished  electricity  to  light  and  heat 
the  Hold,  and  to  propel  its  vehicles.  Every  effect 
that  could  be  produced  by  lights,  white  and  colored, 
the  electrician-artists  had  worked  out  for  the  illu 
mination  of  this  enchanted  palace  hung  on  cliffs. 


344    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

Overlooking  the  region,  as  its  owner  overlorded  his 
fellows,  the  Hold  was  a  place  of  mystery,  holding 
no  neighborship  with  the  people  below,  who  some 
times  heard  bursts  of  sweet  music,  a  voice  lifted 
high  in  song,  or  the  pealing  of  a  great  organ,  de 
scending  as  from  Olympus.  Foresters  and  wood 
men,  tramps  and  campers,  rich  and  poor,  were  shut 
out  from  this  terrestrial  paradise,  fenced  from  the 
world  like  Eden  of  old  by  mountain  walls,  and 
by  masonry  as  firm  as  the  hills.  The  huge  aeronats 
came  in  swarms,  sometimes,  like  fabulous  birds  con 
gregating  for  some  mysterious  purpose  not  under 
stood  by  those  who  looked  with  upturned  faces,  and 
with  hating  hearts — for  the  man  below  always 
resents  the  flaunting  and  domination  of  him  above. 
For  this,  however,  Mr.  Shayne  and  his  guests,  in 
the  high  altitudes  of  coolness  and  health,  with  every 
thing  that  wealth  could  furnish,  isolated  in  a  world 
of  their  own,  cared  nothing.  The  sailing  of  the 
seas  of  air  had  made  this  place  possible;  and  by  no 
other  means  could  it  be  reached.  It  was  a  real 
Laputa — an  island  in  the  air;  and  those  only  could 
reach  it  who  could  fly. 

Seen  from  above,  it  seemed  a  precipitation  in 
stone  of  the  vision  of  a  Beckford.  The  cliffs  formed 
a  circle  so  artificialized  as  to  impart  the  impression 
that  the  mountain  itself  had  been  built  by  man. 


SHAYNE'S    HOLD  345 

Dammed  in  the  old  ravines,  glimmered  three  tri 
angular  lakes,  swarming  with  pleasure  craft,  and 
ornate  with  boat-houses  and  pergolas.  Skirting 
the  cliff  ran  a  line  of  arc-light  clusters,  patrolled  by 
a  guard  against  intruders  from  below — their  long 
vigil  as  yet  unrewarded  by  a  single  trespass.  The 
lights — a  fiery  wreath  for  the  brow  of  a  mountain- 
Bacchus — made  twilight  in  the  hollow  where  stood 
the  beautiful  house,  so  built  as  to  seem  already  en 
wrapped  in  the  ivy,  and  drab  with  the  weathering 
of  age.  About  the  peak  ran  a  labyrinth  of  bridle 
paths  and  carriage  roads,  all  outlined  from  above 
by  winding  lines  of  lights,  like  the  route  of  an  army 
of  bewildered  glow-worms.  Hidden  by  a  spur  of 
cliff,  was  the  immense  air-ship  garage,  the  most 
commodious  in  the  world,  save  those  of  the  king  of 
England  and  the  president  of  the  Russian  Repub 
lic.  There  were  summer-houses  and  conservatories ; 
cellarage  for  a  Lucullus ;  stables  and  kennels ;  courts, 
alleys,  and  halls  for  games;  libraries;  galleries; 
observatories — an  alter  orbis,  immune  to  the  airs, 
diseases,  noises,  tumults,  and  unchosen  companion 
ships  of  the  lower  earth — and,  indeed,  to  a  great  de 
gree  immune  to  its  laws ;  for  Shayne's  Hold  was  by 
special  act  a  unit  of  civil  government,  with  magis 
trate  and  constables  chosen  by  form  of  law  from  its 
own  servants.  Thus  the  Hold  drew  up  its  rocky 


346   VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

skirts  and  spurned  the  contamination  of  the  neigh 
borhood  and  the  trammels  of  local  law. 

The  lightning  had  disabled  its  lighting  system 
for  the  most  part,  and  the  Hold  had  gone  dark. 
Carson  had  made  two  or  three  reconnaissances  over 
the  very  spot,  but  had  not  suspected  its  presence, 
for  the  sky  was  clouded  and  the  luster  of  the  pools 
too  feeble  to  reach  his  eyes ;  so  that  the  sudden  out- 
flash  of  the  myriad  lights,  when  the  currents  were 
restored,  came  to  both  men  with  astonishing  unex 
pectedness.  Craighead  was  clamoring  for  an  aban 
donment  of  their  search. 

"I  ask  not  for  human  grub,"  said  he,  "but  turn  me 
loose  to  dig  roots,  or  mayhap  snare  a  toad  or  ex 
hume  a  worm.  I  would  not  live  alway,  but  how 
would  you  bury  me  up  here,  old  scout?  Think!" 

"I  have  been  thinking,"  replied  Carson,  "and  I 
must  admit  that  you  are  correct — look  there !" 

The  Hold  had  blossomed  suddenly  in  fire.  The 
lakes  edged  with  lights  glimmered  like  mirrors; 
the  clustered  arc-lights  delimited  the  high  mesa 
like  a  map ;  the  winding  labyrinth  of  incandescents 
netted  the  peaks  like  glowing  Lilliputian  threads 
about  the  recumbent  Gulliver;  and  in  the  midst 
stood  a  great,  roomy,  columned  mansion,  its  wings 
in  shade,  its  central  court  agleam,  the  radiant  heart 
of  an  elaborate  splendor.  Carson  drew  in  his  breath 
sharply. 


SHAYNE'S    HOLD  347 

"My  God!"  said  he.  "Who  could  ever  think  of 
such  a  thing?" 

Craighead  was  silent,  until  Carson  unhesitatingly 
turned  the  prow  of  the  Virginia  directly  toward  the 
Hold. 

"What  would  you  do  now?"  he  asked.  "Play 
we're  kids  going  after  tigers — and  finding  them?" 

Now  that  he  had  found  the  Hold,  Carson  was  too 
much  at  a  loss  to  reply.  He  would  not  ask  admis 
sion — and  he  had  no  idea  that  he  would  be  admitted 
if  he  did.  But  he  must  see  Virginia.  Utterly  es 
tranged  as  they  were,  this  night  voyage  had  a 
reason — the  hope  of  seeing  her,  of  asking  her  for 
giveness,  of  bringing  her  to  see  that  when  she 
dropped  from  the  sky  to  his  feet,  he  had  loved  her, 
that  when  she  had  come  to  live  with  that  uncle  of 
whom  she  had  heard  so  little,  and  had  found  the 
last  Carson  in  him,  the  temptation  was  so  masked 
in  duty  that  it  was  too  strong  for  him.  And  had 
he  ever  once  in  that  delicious,  perilous  time  of  act 
ing  "Uncle  Theodore,"  inexcusably  presumed  on 
the  relationship,  or  failed  in  goodness?  True,  he 
had  let  her  stay  as  his  niece;  but  had  not  his  father 
always  thought  himself  of  the  same  blood?  Vir 
ginia  must  allow  some  weight  to  this  tradition.  She 
must  see  that,  while  too  remotely  related  to  be  ob 
jectionable  in  a  nearer,  dearer  way,  he  was  too 
probably  of  kin  to  have  turned  her  away.  And, 


348    VIRGINIA    OF   THE    AIR    LANES 

surely,  when  once  he  could  look  in  her  eyes,  all  the 
dear,  disguised  avowals  and  acceptances  in  the  mis 
taken  past  must  make  him  something  better  than  a 
stranger.  He  would  land  in  Shayne's  Hold,  if  it 
were  the  last  act  of  his  life. 

With  the  ancient  instinct  of  the  surreptitious  lover, 
he  made  for  the  angle  between  two  dark  wings  of 
the  great  house.  Glimmers  of  light  from  two  win 
dows  were  their  sole  sign  of  occupancy ;  the  center 
of  human  concourse  being  about  that  core  of  light 
in  the  court.  The  wings  seemed  like  low  adjuncts  for 
conservatories  or  billiard-rooms;  and  the  angle  be 
tween,  with  its  light  mottlings,  looked  like  a  flower- 
sprinkled  lawn,  on  which  Carson  felt  confident  of 
placing  the  Virginia  gently,  and  with  no  disturb 
ance.  Beyond  this  he  had  been  too  much  engrossed 
in  the  management  of  the  aeronef  to  make  plans. 
With  a  slow  soaring  motion  she  came  into  the  angle 
like  a  steamer  into  her  slip — and  found,  instead  of  a 
lawn,  a  graveled  roof  cluttered  with  tables  and 
chairs  as  if  for  the  serving  of  refreshments.  Among 
these  the  Virginia  nosed  in,  dumped  some  chairs,  a 
table  and  two  potted  palms  into  the  court,  and  set 
tled  down  amid  crackling  furniture  and  crashing 
pottery — a  beautiful  landing,  in  a  rather  unsuitable 
spot. 

Craighead  leaped  out  on  the  roof. 

"Let's  run !"  said  he,  in  a  stage  whisper.     "They 


SHAYNE'S    HOLD  349 

must  have  heard  that,  and  if  they  catch  us,  we're  in 
for  it!" 

"Stay  here,"  said  Carson,  in  a  low  tone.  "If  we 
must,  we  can  fly  in  the  Virginia.  I'll  see  if  any- 
thing's  broken!" 

The  Roc  had  reached  Shayne's  Hold  just  in  time 
to  escape  the  storm,  and  the  wearied  Virginia  had 
retired,  sick  of  the  harping  of  her  aunt  upon  the 
disgrace  of  her  sojourn  with  "Uncle  Theodore;" 
weary  of  telling  how  innocent  it  had  been,  how  gen 
tle  and  considerate  he  was,  how  idylic  their  life 
would  always  seem — all  in  spite  of  her  anger  at 
Mr.  Carson.  She  had  taken  dinner  on  the  roof, 
watching  the  march  of  the  storm,  wondering  where 
that  air-ship  was,  in  which  she  and  some  one  had 
so  nearly  met  their  death.  She  was  angry,  and  she 
despised  Theodore,  but  she  hoped  he  was  safe,  that 
his  campaign  for  the  control  of  the  air  against  her 
uncle  might  succeed — though  that  seemed  the  wild 
est  of  presumption.  While  her  maid  prepared  her 
for  bed,  she  thought  how  much  happier  she  had 
been  at  Carson's  Landing,  with  no  attention  save  an 
ewer  of  hot  water  brought  up  by  old  Chloe. 

Her  uncle  had  spoken  of  a  wireless  message  from 
Wizner  at  Mobile,  relating  no  doubt  to  Theodore 
and  the  Virginia;  and  she  was  horrified  to  think  that 
he  could  keep  up  communication  with  the  man  who 


350   VIRGINIA    OF.   THE    AIR    LANES 

had  tried  to  murder  both  her  and  Theodore.  With  a 
book  close  to  the  light,  she  was  composing  her  mind 
to  sleep,  when  into  the  dreamy  quietude  came  a 
purring  that  was  so  unmistakably  the  voice  of  the 
aeronef  that  Virginia  rose,  with  her  hand  to  her 
heart,  in  an  amazement  not  all  unpleasant,  wonder 
ing  where  her  namesake  might  alight,  and  what 
Shayne's  hired  constabulary  might  do  with  Theo 
dore — when  from  the  roof  came  a  scraping  as  if 
all  the  furniture  were  being  moved  at  once;  chairs 
and  tables  went  over  the  parapet  with  a  crash — and 
the  voices  of  Craighead  and  Carson  came  in  at  the 
window,  low,  hurried  and  agitated. 

There  was  a  hustling  in  the  lower  hall,  as  people 
ran  to  the  windows  that  gave  on  the  court,  and 
rushed  out  to  see  what  had  fallen.  Virginia  turned 
out  the  dim  light — I  wonder  why? 

"Well,"  said  she,  in  answer  to  her  maid's  tap, 
"what  is  it,  Fanny?" 

"I  'eared  an  awful  noise,"  said  Fanny.  "It  seemed 
to  come  from  'ere,  Miss." 

"Some  things  fell  into  the  court,"  replied  Vir 
ginia.  "Please  tell  the  servants ;  and  say  that  things 
must  not  be  piled  upon  the  parapet.  That's  all, 
Fanny." 

"Are  you  quite  sure,  Miss — " 

"Yes,  yes !  Run  at  once  and  tell  them.  I  am  quite 
in  earnest,  Fanny!" 


SHAYNE'S    HOLD  351 

Fanny's  footsteps  went  out  of  hearing;  and  Vir 
ginia  walked  to  the  window.  There  lay  the  dear 
little  air-ship,  that  she  and  Theodore  had  planned 
campaigns  for,  and  conquered  the  world  with.  This 
wing,  which  had  poked  so  nearly  through  her  win 
dow,  was  the  very  one  upon  which  she  had  hung, 
to  test  the  balancing — and  she  reached  out  and 
patted  it  with  her  hand.  Theodore  was  passing  the 
other  way,  now,  moving  chairs  and  tables,  peering 
into  every  bearing  and  gearing  for  signs  of  damage. 
Craighead  was  skirting  the  parapet  as  if  looking  for 
a  staircase. 

"It's  a  miracle,"  said  Theodore,  at  last,  "but  she's 
all  right  and  ready  to  rise  at  a  touch !" 

"Thank  God!"  said  Virginia. 

"Did  you  find  a  way  down?"  asked  Carson,  all 
unconscious  of  the  nearness  of  what  he  sought. 

"Only  the  old  way  by  which  I  came  off  the  back 
stoop  of  the  emporium,"  replied  Craighead.  "It's, 
a  matter  of  specific  gravity.  As  to  getting  back, 
unless  you  brought  your  specific  levity  with  you,  I 
really  don't  see,  old  chap,  how  it's  going  to  be  man 
aged." 

"Once  down  I  can  force  my  way  up,"  said  Theo 
dore,  raising  his  voice  in  his  intensity.  "Do  you 
think  I'll  go  back  without  seeing  her?  No!  You 
stay  here,  and — " 

"Mr.  Craighead!" 


352   VIRGINIA   OF   THE   AIR   LANES 

TKe  voice  came  from  tHe  "darkness  of  the  house, 
cool,  calm,  self-possessed. 

"Present!"  answered  Craighead.  "But  don't 
shoot !  I'm  a  starving  man,  in  charge  of  a  maniac — " 

"Please  come  here,  Mr.  Craighead !"  said  the  soft 
voice. 

"Virginia!"  cried  Carson. 

"Please  tell  your  friend,"  said  the  voice,  "that  if 
he  presumes  to  address  any  person  except  yourself, 
this  window  will  be  closed !" 

"Got  that?"  asked  Craighead.  "Or  will  you 
have  the  message  repeated  at  your  expense,  to  avoid 
possible  errors?" 

Craighead  approached  the  glimmer  of  white 
drapery,  and  Virginia  gave  him  her  hand,  which 
he  gallantly  kissed. 

"You  may  tell  your  friend,"  said  Miss  Suarez, 
"that  his  coming  here  is  a  foolhardy  thing,  and 
quite  uncalled  for.  No  one  here  either  can  see  him, 
or  would  if  she  could." 

"You  hear,  old  man?"  queried  Craighead.  "The 
imprisoned  damosel  saith  it's  all  a  mistake.  She 
don't  want  no  knight!  This  balcony  business  lacks 
appeal,  being  hackneyed  and  overworked.  It's  no 
go,  Colonel — except  for  you.  Do  I  correctly  inter 
pret  the  speech  from  the  throne — and  to  the 
thrown?" 


SHAYNE'S    HOLD  353 

"You  may  tell  him,"  went  on  Virginia,  "that  his 
movements  have  been  reported,  and  the  Aerostatic 
Power  Company  is  about  taking  legal  steps — I  don't 
know  what — to  contest  with  him — I  don't  know 
what!" 

"That's  in  my  department,"  replied  Craighead. 
"I  don't  allow  my  friend  to  mingle  with  it.  And 
tell  your  friend — to  coin  an  expression — that  we 
shall  be  with  him  in  the  courts.  The  great  Craig 
speaketh  of  his  specialty." 

"And  now  go!"  said  Virginia.  "Your  coming 
here  at  all  is  perfectly  shameless!" 

A  murmur  of  voices  arose  from  the  court,  and 
lights  flashed  out,  illuminating  the  roof  and  the 
girl's  form  and  face,  as  she  stood  at  the  window  in 
flowing  white  robes  like  an  angel. 

"I  can't  go!"  said  Carson.  "I  must  speak!  I  was 
wrong  not  to  tell  you  of  your  mistake;  but  I  loved 
you  from  the  moment  I  picked  you  up  from  the 
sand  and  carried  you  into  the  cabin!  I  couldn't 
say  you  had  no  place  to  go !  I  wanted  you !  And  I 
didn't  think  of  anything  that — that  could  remind  me 
of — of — of  your  reputation — " 

"Mr.  Craighead!" 

"Adsum!"  responded  Craighead.  "But  not  pre 
pared  to  recite.  Let's  not  relay  this  talk  any  more. 
Speak  to  the  villain  direct.  The  current  is  burning 


354   VIRGINIA    OF   THE    AIR    LANES 

out  the  wire.  Let  him  talk  to  you  or  install  a  trans 
former.  Help!  Help!" 

"Tell  your  friend,"  went  on  Virginia, — and  her 
voice  now  faltered — "that  I  shall  consider  what  he 
says — " 

"I  believe,"  cried  Carson,  "that  I  am  the  last  of 
the  Carson  family!  My  father  always  taught 
me—" 

" — and  that  I  shall  cease  to  be  angry  by  ceasing 
to  remember  him.  And  now,  go !  You  are  imper 
iling  your  precious  interests  and  risking  arrest." 

"Of  that,"  said  Theodore,  "we  are  not  at  all 
afraid!" 

"Speak  for  yourself,"  quavered  Craighead,  as 
the  cries  below  redoubled.  "I'm  scared  stiff!" 

"We  are  here  for  no  bad  purpose,"  said  Theodore 
firmly,  "and  we  shall  not  fly — " 

"Foolish  boy!"  cried  Virginia.  "They  will  con 
fine  you  during  pleasure,  through  officers  that  can 
act  legally,  and  study  the  air-ship,  and  steal  your 
creation !  Go,  I  beg  of  you,  go !" 

There  was  a  knocking  at  the  door,  and  loud  voices 
demanding  admission.  Virginia  extended  her 
hands  imploringly  as  she  spoke;  and  Theodore 
seized  them. 

"I  will  go,"  said  he,  "when  you  tell  me  when  I 
may  seek  you  and  make  my  explanations !  I  have 
the  right,  Virginia!" 


SHAYNE'S    HOLD  355 

"Oh,  oh,"  she  cried.  "You  are  cruel!  You  are 
putting  the  blame  of  your  ruin  on  me !  Go,  Go !" 

"When  may  I  see  you  again  ?" 

"When  you  have  won  your  fight  for  the  Vir 
ginia/'  answered  she.  "When  the  fruits  of  your 
genius  are  saved  to  you — if  you  will  go  at  once! 
Or  when  you  are  completely  ruined — maybe!" 

"Hurry,  old  man!"  cried  Craighead.  "They're 
putting  up  ladders.  Hurry!  I'll  go  bail  you  see 
her  again  some  time.  When  you're  ruined,  will  be 
the  soonest — if  you  don't  come.  Fly  with  me! 
Fly!" 

Shayne's  voice  was  heard  outside  the  door,  giving 
orders  that  it  be  broken  in,  and  some  person  hurled 
himself  against  it  unavailingly.  A  flat  cap  appeared 
above  the  roof;  and  as  the  man  under  it  mounted 
the  ladder,  carrying  a  pistol,  Craighead  seized  an 
overturned  chair,  and  screwing  its  legs  into  the 
breast  and  face  of  the  sealer,  dumped  him  neatly 
into  the  arms  of  three  or  four  servants  in  the 
court — after  which  he  examined  the  chair  leg, 
shouted,  "No  meat  on  it;  I  shall  starve!"  and  threw 
the  chair  down  after  the  man.  Leaping  into  the  car 
he  shouted  to  Carson  to  come,  or  he  would  have 
to  walk. 

Theodore  clung  to  Virginia's  hands.  His  fight 
ing  blood  was  up,  and  he  hated  to  miss  seeing  the 
dear  faces  of  his  foes,  The  discharge  of  the  pistol, 


356    VIRGINIA   OE   THE   AIR    LANES 

however,  admonished  him  of  the  seriousness  of  his 
situation,  and  emphasized  Virginia's  pleading.  He 
clasped  her  in  his  arms;  she  feebly  pushed  him  off, 
but  yielded  to  overpowering  force. 

"Within  a  few  weeks,"  said  he,  "I  shall  be  ruined, 
or  successful.  And  I  shall  come — for  your  love !" 

"I  promise  nothing,"  she  whispered,  "except  to 
consid —  Oh,  Theodore,  go,  go!  Please,  for  my 
sake,  go!" 

Her  face  was  upturned  in  pleading,  and  he  kissed 
her  mouth — once,  twice ;  and  as  her  door  crashed  in, 
he  gently  released  her,  leaped  into  the  car,  and  threw 
on  the  clutches.  The  aeronef,  rising,  soared  above 
the  great  house,  and  sped  off  into  the  night,  amid 
the  whizzing  of  bullets  and  the  crackling  of  fire 
arms.  The  attack  on  Shayne's  Hold  was  repulsed — 
but  its  leader  was  jubilant. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

AMATEUR  DAY  IN  COURT 

'"^T  "IT  ~Y  HAT  is  the  business,  Mr.  Craighead, 
%  i\  I  of  the  Universal  Nitrates  and  Air 

T     T        Products  Company?" 

Mr.  Craighead,  looking  down  into  Broadway 
from  the  window  of  his  office,  ceased  his  mysterious 
counting  and  tallying,  snapped  a  stop  watch  and 
turned  to  the  group  of  reporters.  His  look  was  re 
proachful. 

"Gentlemen,"  said  he,  "y°u  are  crass  Roman 
soldiery.  I  am  Archimedes  making  calculations ; 
and,  instead  of  allowing  him  to  equate  his  equations, 
you  javelin  him  with  questions.  Tell  the  journal 
istic  Marcelli  who  sent  you  that  Ark  won't  be  dis 
turbed!" 

"Tell  us  about  these  abtruse  studies  of  middle 
Broadway,"  said  a  young  man  with  a  snub  nose. 

"I  am  determining,"  said  Mr.  Craighead,  "the 
ratio  of  out-of-town  visitors  to  cliff-dwellers,  by 
observing  the  number  who  try  to  see  the  cornices. 

357 


358    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

The  Carson-Craighead  Company  must  know  this. 
Then  my  plan  for  aiding  the  Society  for  the  Pre 
vention  of  Noise — by  the  way,  there's  a  story  in 
that!" 

"What  is  it?"  asked  a  tall,  young  man  who  wore 
a  bored  look  and  glasses. 

"A  law,"  said  Mr.  Craighead,  "to  compel  cabmen 
to  take  out  licenses — " 

"They  have  to  now !"  snapped  a  young  woman  in 
a  sailor  hat  "You're  stalling  us  off !" 

"It  hurts  me,"  said  he,  "to  be  accused  of  deceit, 
by  one  so  fair,  in  terms  which  make  it  a  cinch  that 
she's  wise  to  all  the  flash  patter  along  the  pike  of 
slang!" 

"But  about  this  noise  story,"  said  the  snub-nose. 

"My  bill,"  resumed  Mr.  Craighead,  "will  compel 
cabmen  to  be  so  trained  in  good  vocal  schools,  that 
their  cry,  or  bay,  or  yowl  will  resound  through  the 
streets  melodiously,  surpassing  the  double-tonguing 
of  hounds,  when  the  horn  of  the  hunter  is  heard  on 
the  hill.  Each  will  be  given  a  pitch  for  his  'Keb ! 
Keb !'  Minor  effects  may  be  introduced  through 
accidentals  or  accidents.  Full  choruses  will  swell  to 
the  blue  dome  in  blockades.  This  raw  material  for 
music  far  more  vital  than  Wagner's  or  Strauss'  will 
be  written  down  by  the  tonic  sol-fa  system,  and 
Music,  gentle  maid,  will  be  young  again.  At  the 
ferries  and  stations  serried  columns  of  cabmen  will 


AMATEUR    DAY    IN    COURT        359 

compete  in  antiphonal  chant,  deep,  musical,  elevat 
ing  like  the  Greek  chorus.  Art,  in  that  day — " 

"This  reform,  Mr.  Craighead,"  said  the  slangy 
young  lady,  "will  come  with  your  plan  of  teaching 
burglary  and  housebreaking  in  the  public  schools?" 

"Do  not  sneer,"  protested  Mr.  Craighead.  "Until 
we  do  that,  the  yeggmen  have  us  faded.  And  sneer 
ing  distorts  the  features.  Belay  sneering!" 

"But  about  the  Universal  Nitrates  and  Air  Prod 
ucts  Company,"  said  a  fat  man  with  perpetually 
poised  pencil, ."and  its  connection  with  the  aeronef 
company  ?" 

"Merely  fortuitous,"  replied  Craighead.  "The 
aeronef  company  is  an  ephemeral  agency  for  profit 
— and  I  scorn  it!" 

"But  you  are  a  director?" 

"Oh,  yes!  Oh,  yes!"  replied  Craighead.  "But 
the  greater  things  had  not  occurred  to  me  when  I 
went  into  it.  I  was  ill.  I  was  under  a  claim.  I 
was  chemicalizing  in  that  reaction  which  results  in 
the  product  known  as  tungstate  of  alcoholism,  or 
magalo-conversation.  A  natural  monopolist,  Gen 
eral  Theodo'  Cahson,  M.  A.,  took  advantage  of  my 
weakness  and  got  me  into  it.  Honor  rooted  in  dis 
honor  stands,  and  faith  unfaithful  keeps  me  falsely 
true ;  and  I  stay  with  him  in  his  fight  with  Aerostatic 
Power.  Then  I  shall  give  my  whole  attention  to  the 
Universal  Nitrates  and  Air  Products  Company, 


360    VIRGINIA    OE   THE    AIR    LANES 

which  is  to  the  Carson-Craighead  Aeronef  as  the 
rings  of  Saturn  to  those  of  Tammany  Hall.  And,  to 
originate  a  phrase,  that's  going  some !" 

"You're  really  good,  Mr.  Craighead,"  said  she 
of  the  sailor  hat,  "and  if  the  tungstate  of  your  alco 
holic  days  was  worse  than  this,  you  ought  to  have 
taken  something  for  it — " 

"I  tried  to,"  confessed  Craighead,  "but  Doctor 
Witherspoon  expelled  me!" 

"But  here's  the  situation  as  we  get  it.  If  we're 
wrong,  we'll  stay  wrong,  unless  you  set  us  right — " 

"  'O  cursed  spite!'  "  recited  Craighead. 

"No  more  tungstate,  if  you  please,"  said  the  young 
woman.  "The  Air  Products  Company  was  a  wild 
cat-looking  West  Virginia  formation  to" — here  she 
read  from  a  clipping — "  'to  extract  free  nitrogen 
from  the  air  by  the  Craighead  method  or  otherwise, 
for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  fertilizers  to  thereby 
increase  the  capacity  of  the  earth  for  supporting 
population' — " 

"Is  that,"  cried  he  frantically,  "in  our  articles? 
Then  all  is  lost !  Let  me  take  it !" 

His  tragic  expression  seemed  so  indicative  of 
something  sensational  that  she  gave  him  the  paper. 
With  shaking  hand  he  took  down  the  telephone  and 
asked  for  Mr.  Filley. 

"This  you,  Filley?"  he  queried.  "Here's  some 
thing  that  ruins  us.  ...  A  split  infinitive  in 


AMATEUR    DAY    IN    COURT         361 

the  articles.  .  ,..  .  Won't  hurt  anything? 
Won't  have  to  be  done  over?  .  .  .  And  we 
call  ourselves  civilized!  .  .  ." 

Craighead  handed  the  paper  back. 

"You  have  shocked  me,"  said  he.  "But  never 
mind,  dearie!  I  know  not  whether  to  rejoice  for 
the  Air  Products  Company,  or  weep  for  institutions 
that  allow  such  a  solecism  to  be  legal  as  'to  thereby 
increase/  Really  now,  wouldn't  it  cork  a  purist  like 
myself — " 

"Well,"  said  th'e  reporter,  "it  goes  on  to  say  'and 
for  securing  all  rights  in  the  atmosphere  necessary 
for  its  complete  reduction  to  possession  for  the  pro 
duction  of  nitrates,  ozones  and  all  other  atmospheric 
derivatives;  and  for  the  securing  of  exclusive  rights 
in  the  air  over  lands  for  all  purposes  whatsoever.' 
Now  that,"  said  she,  "  'for  all  purposes  whatsoever' : 
isn't  that  pretty  broad  ?" 

"A  broad  intellect  composed  it,"  said  Craighead. 
"I  done  wrote  that,  mahse'f,  honey !" 
tt  '"And  under  this  clause,"  said  the  girl,  "you  have 
Acquired  from  landowners  over  the  continent,  all 
*their  rights  in  the  air  over  their  lands,  subject  to 
ftheir  use  for  tillage  and  building?" 

^.v'Oh,  do  not  exaggerate!"  cried  Craighead.  "A 
symmetrical  character  requires  moderation  of  state 
ment.  We've  got  these  rights  from  some  landown 
ers.  We  hope — " 


362    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

"But,"  pursued  the  reporter  remorselessly,  "these 
rights  happen — merely  happen — to  gridiron  every 
state  in  squares  marked  by  grants  and  leases  to  the 
Air  Products  Company?" 

"My  child,"  said  Craighead,  "do  you  understand 
the  Craighead  method  of  extracting  nitrates  from 
the  atmosphere  by  spontaneous  discharges  of  statical 
electricity  from  electrodes  suspended  over  the 
earth's  surface?" 

"No,"  she  said,  "do  you?" 

"It  is  one  of  my  specialties,"  said  he.  "If  I  might 
have  you  all  to  myself  for  an  evening — " 

"Nothing easier,"  said  she,  "if  I  can  get  this  story; 
but  I  am  losing  faith  in  you.  Why  not  tell  us  now 
the  secret  of  your  checker-board  overlying  Amer 
ica?" 

"I  will  try,"  said  he  soberly.  "Have  you  studied 
the  formation  of  crystals ;  or  the  causes  of  the  math 
ematically  accurate  distribution  of  snowdrifts  on 
the  surfaces  of  smoothly  frozen  lakes ;  or  the  reason 
for  the  disposition  of  the  clouds  in  the  ill-under 
stood  'mackerel  sky'?  Have  you  mastered  the  sci 
ence  of  wave  motion,  of  cycles,  of  periodicity? 
I  assume- you  have,  and — " 

"Well,  you  may  assume  again,"  said  she.  "I 
don't  believe  there  is  such  a  science!" 

"TheiV  said  Craighead,  "it  will  be  impossible 
to  explain  why  my  extraction  of  nitrates  from  the 


AMATEUR    DAY    IN    COURT         363 

air  requires  a  mathematical  distribution  of  its  mech 
anism.  Don't  you  get  a  glimmer  of  it?" 

Craighead  appealed  to  the  fat  man  as  to  the  one 
rare  soul  capable  of  understanding. 

"I  guess  so,"  said  the  fat  man.  "But  it's  a  mighty 
dim  glimmer!" 

"Any  glimmer  at  all,"  said  Craighead,  "and  I  hail 
in  you  a  kindred  spirit!  I  thank  you!  And  now 
that'll  be  about  all  for  to-day !  By-by !" 

Mr.  Craighead  took  much  pleasure  in  his  posi 
tion  as  press  representative  of  the  Carson-Craighead 
Aeronef  Company.  The  Virginia,  her  builder,  and 
the  contest  with  Aerostatic  Power  were  matters  on 
which  the  great  dailies  had  men  at  work  night  and 
day.  This  much  was  known :  she  had  been  built 
on  the  Alabama  coast,  she  had  flown  with  incred 
ible  speed  to  the  Catskills  and  thence  to  New  York. 
This  visit  to  the  neighborhood  of  Shayne's  Hold, 
the  summer  place  of  the  man  who  ruled  Aerostatic 
Power,  was  a  tantalizing  mystery.  The  mountain 
inn,  where  the  Virginia  had  been  laid  up  for  re 
pairs,  had  been  visited  by  reporters,  and  the  im 
possibility  of  surface  communication  between  it  and 
Shayne's  Hold  pointed  out.  The  mysterious  Craig- 
head  had  leased,  for  the  Aeronef  Corporation,  the 
vacant  aerodrome  on  the  roof  of  this  very  building, 
gone  back  to  the  inn,  whence  the  Virginia  had 
sailed  to  their  leased  roof  within  an  hour — and  not 


364    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

by  Shayne's  Hold.  After  which  Craighead  was  the 
news  center  from  which  emanated  the  most  astound 
ing  medley  of  scientific,  psychologic,  mystical  and 
mystifying  news  ever  heard.  Craighead  was  always 
at  liberty,  ready  to  see  the  representatives  of  the 
press,  always  laden  with  a  story.  But  the  stories 
never  threw  anything  but  darkness  over  the  struggle 
of  Aerostatic  Power  with  the  wonderful  new  aeronef 
from  the  South. 

Theodore  Carson,  engineering  genius,  with  his 
southern  accent  and  retiring  manners,  was  usually 
with  Mr.  Filley,  the  personal  representative  of  Mr. 
Cyrus  Waddy,  a  midland  capitalist  who  was  financ 
ing  the  Carson  project.  He  avoided  reporters,  was 
greedy  of  time,  and  met  secret  emissaries  from  all 
the  world.  The  New  York,  of  which  he  had  been  so 
afraid,  opened  its  arms  to  him,  but  looked  on  him  as 
upon  a  man  with  his  head  in  the  lion's  mouth.  That 
an  Illinois  banker,  an  Alabama  engineer,  and  a  wild, 
weird  freak  like  Craighead  could  escape  Shayne 
in  his  Wall  Street  jungle  seemed  very  unlikely. 

They  even  said  that  Aerostatic  Power  had  ac 
quired  inventions  identical  in  principle  with  the 
Virginia,  but  antedating  that  aerial  marvel  by  many 
years ;,  and  they  smiled  and  said,  "The  old  game !" 
and  "I  told  you  so!"  The  newspapers  published 
Carson's  picture  as  that  of  a  man  who  was  to  be 
robbed  of  the  greatest  invention  of  the  ages.  A 


AMATEUR    DAY    IN    COURT        365 

Mobile  despatch  spoke  of  a  certain  Wizner  as  the 
real  inventor  of  the  Virginia; — the  machine  which 
made  the  air  a  manoeuvering  place  for  the  destruc 
tion  of  navies  and  cities,  and  a  medium  for  the  swift 
est  transportation  yet  known. 

Then  some  one  discovered  that  on  the  day  the 
Carson-Craighead  Company  had  been  formed,  the 
Universal  Nitrates  and  Air  Products  Company  was 
born,  with  directors  and  stock-holders  identical  with 
those  of  the  Aeronef  Company,  and  that  they  had 
spent  a  great  campaign  fund  in  getting  leases  and 
grants  for  the  extraction  from  the  atmosphere  of  ni 
trates  and  the  like,  in  lines  like  those  of  Scots  plaid 
all  over  the  continent.  The  air  over  almost  every 
highway  had  been  granted  away  by  the  owners  of 
the  fee — the  very  streets  of  New  York  being  covered 
so  far  as  to  cut  the  city  into  nearly  a  hundred  irregu 
lar  blocks.  The  other  great  cities  were  similarly 
gridironed.  The  space  over  the  smaller  rivers  and 
streams  was  mostly  sold  to  the  Air  Products  Com 
pany.  The  mystery  in  this  so  stimulated  curiosity 
that  it  caused  more  excitement  than  the  Virginia 
herself.  For  these  seemingly  worthless  rights  over 
farms,  streams,  roads  and  streets  were  like  a  huge 
spider's  web  spun  as  a  net  over  the  world — Europe 
and  Asia,  as  well  as  America.  Some  one  with  great 
resources  was  up  to  something  big.  Something  was 
to  be  caught  in  the  net — but  what? 


366    VIRGINIA    OK   THE    AIR    LANES 

And  in  answer,  Craighead  emitted  daily  state 
ments  of  dreams  wilder  than  the  visions  of  opium 
Mr.  Craighead  seemed  crazy — but  was  he?  Mr 
Craighead  seemed  shallow:  but  was  he  not  reall] 
deep?  Mr.  Craighead  had  organized  both  thesi 
companies  on  the  same  day,  officered  them  by  tru 
same  men — one  a  wild  scheme  that  made  the  worlc 
laugh,  the  other  based  on  an  invention  that  mus 
change  the  course  of  history.  Endless  discussioi 
ensued;  and  the  question  never  answered  was  this 
what  can  these  grants  of  nitrate-rights  to  this  opium 
dream  company  have  to  do  with  the  navigation  o 
the  air? 

Craighead  and  Carson  dined  that  day  with  Mr 
Filley,  a  little  man  with  a  great,  scantily-thatchec 
head  and  no  body,  who  ate  lobster  and  green-turtl 
soup,  and  drank  port,  and  grew  paler  every  day. 

"When  shall  we  know?"  asked  Theodore. 

"Soon,"  replied  Filley.  "We'll  cover  the  whoL 
country  with  injunctions  this  afternoon  and  get  < 
hearing  here  in  a  few  days.  In  a  very  few  week: 
we  shall  win  the  greatest  legal  triumph  of  recen 
times;  or — snuffed  out!" 

"And  I — "  said  Carson. 

"And  you,  fair  youth,"  said  Craighead,  "will  b< 
eligible  one  way  or  the  other  to  repair  again  to  th< 
Sibyl  of  the  Mountain  Top.  Waiter,  a  magnum  o: 
choice  unfermented  grape  juice  sparkling  with  car 


AMATEUR    DAY    IN    COURT        367 

bonic  acid  from  the  soda  fountain.  Perish  the 
thought  that  Filley  of  the  Sapient  Phiz  shall  fail  in 
establishing  a  legal  principle  clear  as  day,  and  ap 
proved  by  me!  Drink  with  me,  gentlemen!  To 
triumph !" 

That  night  began  the  series  of  sensations  that 
made  so  memorable  the  war  for  the  use  of  the  air. 
In  the  courts  of  every  federal  district  and  the  state 
courts  of  West  Virginia,  Mr.  Filley  filed  his  in 
junction  suits  against  the  owner  of  every  known 
air-ship,  and,  by  the  clause  used  in  labor  dis 
putes,  bound  all  persons,  whether  named  or  not, 
who  might,  with  the  defendants  or,  independently, 
design  trespass  against  the  plaintiff's  rights. 

The  bill  in  New  York  recited  that  the  plaintiff  was 
the  owner  of  all  rights  of  navigation  in  the  air  in 
certain  described  belts  or  bands  surrounding  the  City 
of  New  York,  dividing  it  into  portions,  and  grid- 
ironing  the  continent;  that  the  defendants  had  in 
the  past  habitually  trespassed  on  these  by  flying  over 
them  in  air-ships;  that  the  passage  to  or  from  the 
City  of  New  York  over  the  sea,  the  river,  or  other 
route  was  impossible  save  by  such  trespass;  and 
therefore  injunction  was  asked  prohibiting  the  de 
fendants,  their  servants  and  all  other  persons  from 
departing  from  or  coming  to  the  said  City  of  New 
York  through  the  air  owned  by  the  plaintiff,  or  from 
navigating  any  aerial  craft  across,  over  or  through 


368    VIRGINIA    OF   THE    AIR    LANES 

the  real  property  of  the  plaintiff  wheresoever  situ 
ated. 

Finley  Shayne's  name  led  the  list  of  defendants, 
followed  by  that  of  the  Aerostatic  Power  Company 
— and  page  after  page  of  names  of  people  owning 
aerial  craft;  and  air-ships  everywhere  were  hemmed 
in  by  the  "real  property"  of  the  plaintiff,  like  whalers 
frozen  in  the  ice.  The  "real  property"  was  that 
wonderful  spider's  net  of  grants;  and  the  plaintiff 
was  the  Universal  Nitrates  and  Air  Products  Com 
pany!  Craighead's  opium  dream  was  explained. 
The  relation  between  the  twin  companies  was  dis 
closed.  Two  perfectly  well-known  legal  principles 
were  here  united  in  an  audacious  attempt  to  monopo 
lize  the  air:  the  rights  attaching  to  ownership  of 
land,  and  that  of  injunction  to  prevent  trespass  or 
nuisance.  •» 

Public  and  press  were  struck  with  amazement. 
The  unthinking  laughed  at  the  unheard-of  and  pre 
posterous  claim  to  private  control  of  the  atmosphere. 
Craighead,  himself  a  joke,  reduced  to  a  joke  any 
thing  he  touched;  but  this  man  Filley  had  never 
been  a  jest  to  his  opponents.  An  undercurrent  of 
seriousness  toward  the  "air-ship  case"  grew  more 
noticeable  from  day  to  day  while  the  world  waited 
for  the  hearing  on  the  issuance  of  the  temporary 
injunction.  The  Aerostatic  Power  Company  was 
known  to  be  feverishly  active  in  the  preparation  of 


AMATEUR   DAY   IN    COURT        369 

its  case — even  while  filling  the  press  with  ridicule 
of  "Craigheadism."  Some  journals  in  the  Shayne 
interest  advocated  laws  to  make  it  impossible  for  a 
crank  like  Craighead  to  annoy  people  by  absurd 
lawsuits.  It  was  laughable ;  but  it  was,  for  all  that, 
an  outrage.  Laughter,  too,  was  out  of  place,  when 
people  of  substance  in  the  community  must  appear 
and  answer  the  crazy  allegations  of  a  lunatic  in  that 
phase  of  parancea  producing  the  delusions  of  dealing 
with  great  affairs,  owning  the  earth,  being  presi 
dent  or  Messiah.  To  all  of  which  Mr.  Craighead 
replied  in  a  grave  discussion  as  to  the  distinction, 
if  any,  between  sanity  in  the  editorial  sense,  and  im 
becility.  Lawyers  began  poring  over  cases  dealing 
with  rights  in  and  over  land,  with  growing  dubiety 
as  to  the  outcome  of  "The  Universal  Nitrates  and 
Air  Products  Company  vs.  Shayne,  et  al" 

When  the  case  came  on  to  be  heard  the  laugh 
had  disappeared,  the  very  army  of  lawyers  appear 
ing  for  the  defendant  rendering  it  a  serious  matter. 
The  justices  seemed  to  ooze  gravity  from  the  bench ; 
the  attorneys  at  the  tables  just  outside  the  rail  rus 
tled  their  briefs,  sent  messengers  hither  and  yon, 
and  conferred  in  whispers.  Craighead  sat  with 
Filley,  his  hair  rumpled,  his  crooked  nose  high,  in 
a  suit  of  legal  black,  drawing  more  attention  than 
did  Carson — whose  face,  bleached  of  the  Gulf  beach 
tan,  had  assumed  the  pallor  of  the  scholar,  while 


J370   VIRGINIA    OF   THE    AIR    LANES 

vast  responsibilities  had  been  imparting  to  him  an 
atmosphere  of  distinction.  He  sat  scanning  the 
people  of  the  defense — Shayne,  Silberberg,  and 
other  great  financial  figures.  He  caught  Silber- 
berg's  eye,  and  that  gentleman's  neck  grew  red  with 
,  rage;  but  Shayne  was  suave,  debonair,  and  appar- 
'ently  at  ease,  carefully  ignoring  Carson.  The  per 
sonal  relations  of  the  three  was  the  one  great  news 
story  that  the  press  representatives  missed — but  that 
came  afterward. 

The  young  woman  in  the  sailor  hat  who  handled 
the  case  for  the  Tribune  sought  for  the  sounding 
phrase  which  would  pierce.  As  the  justice  called 
out  "Universal  Nitrates,  etc.,  vs.  Shayne  et  al!" 
she  found  it.  "This  call  to  arms,"  she  wrote,  "in 
defense  of  the  right  to  an  open  road,  sounded  the 
charge  in  a  contest  to  determine  whether  or  not  the 
phrase  'free  as  air'  shall  be  henceforth  nonsense; 
whether  or  not  man's  mastering  of  flight  shall  give 
him  the  bird's  freedom,  or  leave  him  still  the  payer 
of  tribute  to  those  who  own  the  earth;  whether  or 
not  the  word  of  promise  of  freedom  will  be  kept 
to  the  ear  only,  and  broken  to  the  hope.  And  it  was 
one  of  life's  ironies,  that  the  man  who  stood  for  free 
dom,  was  he  who  had  done  most  to  make  freedom  of 
aerial  travel  impossible, — Finley  Shayne;  and  that 
those  who  stood  for  monopoly  and  thraldom  of  the 
heavens  to  the  earth,  were  a  group  of  adventurers 


AMATEUR    DAY    IN    COURT        .371 

who  were  suddenly  become  a  portent.  And  the  cry 
to  carnage  was  in  the  voice  of  Justice  McFadden 
droning  forth  the  words:  'Universal  Nitrates,  etc., 
vs.  Shayne  et  all' '' 

While  the  pleadings  and  affidavits  were  read, 
Craighead  sketched  the  bailiffs,  shuffled  his  feet, 
and  drummed  on  the  table  until  the  court  tapped 
for  silence, 

"We  will  hear  from  the  plaintiff,"  said  Justice 
McFadden.  "And  as  the  facts  seem  practically 
undisputed — " 

"But,  your  Honor !"  protested  the  counsel  for  the 
defendants,  "we  certainly  do  not  admit — •" 

"For  present  purposes,"  replied  the  justice,  "the 
showing  seems  ample  that  plaintiff  owns  certain 
rights  in  lands  so  distributed  that  the  defendants 
must  pass  over  them  in  going  from  place  to  place; 
that  the  defendants  have  habitually  done  so;  and 
that  the  situation  constitutes  a  threat  that  this  will 
be  repeated.  The  defendants,  by  claiming  the  right 
to  pass  these  lines,  confess  this  for  present  purposes. 
We  will  therefore  hear  from  plaintiff's  counsel  on 
the  law." 

Mr.  Filley  gathered  up  his  papers;  but  with  a 
professional-sounding  "May  it  please  the  court" 
that  dumfounded  Filley  and  drew  from  the  justice 
a  request  for  the  gentleman's  name,  Craighead  rose. 

"Craighead,"  said  he  in  response  to  the  court's 


372    VIRGINIA    OF.   THE    AIR    LANES 

query.  "I  will  offer  a  few  remarks  on  the  law, 
and  then  yield  to  my  learned  colleague,  who  will 
lay  before  your  honors  the  feeble  attempts  of 
the  courts  to  crystallize  it  in  precedents.  The 
law  is  fully  as  plain  as  the  nose  on  the  face  of 
the  most  Roman  of  your  honors.  As  to  its 
righteousness,  it  is  as  moral  as  landownership.  That 
it  has  not  heretofore  been  applied  has  been  owing  to 
the  stupidity  of  the  legal  profession,  to  the  asininity 
of  landowners,  and  to  the  fact  that  the  law  is  so 
plain;  for  that  which  is  all  around  ever  remains 
undetected,  like  the  pressure  of  the  atmosphere,  or 
the  picture  with  trees  and  clouds  representing  faces 
or  animals.  And  as  when  once  the  cat  in  the 
landscape  is  seen,  the  landscape  fades  and  one  can 
see  nothing  but  the  cat — so  in  this  case,  when  the 
law  is  once  made  plain,  your  honors  will  be  able  to 
see  nothing  else.  We  are  taking  the  liberty  of  un 
sealing  the  blind  eye  of  the  courts." 

Mr.  Filley  was  outraged  at  the  effrontery  of  this 
unlicensed  actor  in  thus  taking  the  scene;  but  to 
make  a  disturbance  now  would  be  worse  than  to  let 
him  go  on ;  and  Mr.  Filley  sat  down  frowning,  and 
hoping  that  Craighead's  offense  might  escape  dis 
covery. 

"  'Cujus  ad  solum,  ejus  est  usque  ad  coelumf  " 
went  on  Craighead,  "is  the  maxim  on  which  we 
stand,  the  meaning  of  which  has  been  decided  in 


AMATEUR    DAY    IN    COURT         373 

hundreds  of  cases — and,  strange  to  say,  is  still 
clear — 'He  who  owns  land,  owns  to  the  sky.'  He 
has  as  much  moral  right  to  the  sky  as  to  the  surface. 
The  man  with  a  deed  to  a  square  mile  of  the  sur 
face  of  this  planet,  under  this  law,  owns  a  great 
pyramid,  apexing  at  the  earth's  center,  and  extend 
ing  out  into  space,  in  diverging  lines,  infinitely;  so 
that  if  he  can  show  that  these  lines  of  boundary 
take  in  Mars  and  her  canals,  he  would  have  a  per 
fect  case  against  the  Martians  for  rent  of  fields  and 
tolls  over  waterways,  if  he  could  get  service  and 
bring  the  defendants  into  court. 

"Land!  land!  The  mystic  word  that  rules  the 
world!  The  woman  who  ejaculates  'Good  land!' 
conjures  by  a  thing  more  potent  than  all  the  gods 
of  Olympus.  Three  names  are  intimately  related 
in  the  widely-separated  fields  of  the  coal  combine 
and  the  law  of  real  property — Coke,  Blackstone  and 
Littleton — and  it  is  Lord  Coke  in  his  commentaries 
on  Littleton  who  says:  'Land  is  a  nomen  general- 
issimum  and  includes  everything  fixed  to  the 
ground,  and  everything  above  or  below  it' — and 
when  I  speak,  or  still  more  when  I  spell  those  won 
derful  words,  'nomen  generalissimum,'  I  believe  it! 
These  words  from  him  who  may  have  begun  as 
Cole,  but  by  losing  everything  in  him  volatile  or 
juicy  was  turned  to  Coke,  to  the  distress  of  the  law 
student  for  ages, — these  words  are  quoted  in  Brocket 


374   VIRGINIA    OF    THE   AIR    LANES 

vs.  State,  14  Pennsylvania  State — and  they  are  the 
law. 

"The  air  above  our  land  is  a  part  of  it.  You  know 
it.  Why  else  have  you  recognized  Reimer's  Appeal, 
too  Pennsylvania  State,  as  good  law?  What  was 
that  case?  A  bay-window  many  feet  above  the 
sidewalk  was  declared  a  nuisance  because  it  jutted 
out  into  the  air  that  was  a  part  of  the  street.  And 
see,  also,  Bybee  vs.  The  State,  94  Indiana.  You 
hang  your  cornice  or  string  a  wire  in  my  air,  and 
I  will  hale  you  into  court.  Don't  presume  to  fly 
a  kite  over  my  land  except  by  my  consent;  you 
have  no  right.  And  remember  that  the  city  of 
Cleveland  was  mulcted  in  the  sum  of  fifty  inousand 
dollars  for  swinging  a  bridge  a  few  times  a  day  a 
hundred  feet  above  an  inch  strip  of  land. 

"How  much  more  am  I  damnified  by  the  air-ship, 
which  may  drop  a  monkey-wrench,  a  spanner,  a 
gob  of  ballast,  or  a  casual  remark  into  my  privacy? 
Like  other  highways,  the  air  will  be  infested  by 
accidents  and  collisions.  Aeronefs  will  fall  into 
the  rural  silo,  drag- ropes  will  rip  up  barbed  wire; 
and  Pyramus  and  Thisbe,  in  their  Arcadian  wooing, 
may  be  smothered  under  falling  gas-bags,  or  torn 
asunder  by  dragging  anchors  inserted  in  their 
pancreases!  I  shudder,  your  Honors,  at  what  may 
happen  when  the  air  is  populous  with  flying- jiggers, 
pop-popping  about,  raining  ballast,  and  wine-bottles, 


AMATEUR    DAY    IN    COURT        375 

and  bacon  rinds,  and  stale  bananas,  and  hot  coffee, 
and  soft-boiled  eggs,  and  lobster  a  la  Newburg  on 
a  lost  and  undone  republic — and  when  /  shudder, 
persons  of  ordinary  sensitiveness  fly  into  fragments 
with  the  shivers.  For  I  am  no  light  and  habitual 
shudderer. 

"I  have  spoken  in  my  weak  way  of  what  might 
make  a  landholder  unwilling  to  have  his  air  used  as 
a  highway;  but  he  doesn't  have  to  give  a  reason — 
he  can  show  his  deed,  and  tell  the  whole  world  to 
go  to — to  the  captain's  office  and  settle.  Your  Hon-. 
ors,  I  adjure  you  to  cling  to  your  unbroken  prece 
dents,  and  uphold  property,  on  which  society  is 
based.  To  say  that  we  do  not  own  these  strips  of 
land,  but  only  rights  in  the  air,  is  foolishness  of 
the  damphest  sort.  The  landowner  may  sell  the 
surface  and  keep  the  minerals;  or  sell  the  mineral 
rights  down  to  China,  and  keep  the  surface.  Our 
grantors  owned  and  sold  these  rights  to  us.  It 
is  slanderous  to  say  that  we  have  hornswoggled — 
to  coin  a  phrase — the  farmers  by  promising  cheap 
nitrates  by  the  Craighead  method.  It  is  my  inten 
tion  to  take  a  few  moments  some  day  to  perfect  the 
Craighead  method,  and  begin  to  extract  nitrogen — 
but  that  is  another  narrative.  The  point  is  that  we've 
got  those  rights.  We  have  what  nobody  ever  had  be 
fore — the  proof  that  defendants  pass  over  our  lands, 
because  they  have  to.  Nobody  else  ever  had  lands 


376    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

hemming  in  everybody.  We  have.  This  makes  our 
proof  simply  pie;  and  we  call  upon  you  to  protect 
us,  in  the  name  of  the  law  of  landownership,  on 
which  every  government  in  all  the  world  is  founded. 
"They  say  we  seek  to  enslave  travelers.  'This 
absurdity  applies  as  forcibly  to  surface  rights  or 
mines.  If  the  traveler  can't  pay  our  scale,  let  him 
go  by  public  highways,  or  by  boat  or  rail — or 
stay  at  home;  just  as  the  man  who  wants  to  use 
land  and  has  none,  may  pay  rent  or  get  off  the  earth. 
We  may  do  as  we  will  with  our  own  space :  allow  it 
to  be  used,  or  hold  it  for  speculation.  We  antici 
pate  that  rights  to  air-navigation  will  become  more 
and  more  valuable.  We  expect  to  charge  what 
ever  the  situation  makes  possible.  This  is  as  moral 
as  increasing  rent  for  lands.  We  shall  grant  licenses 
or  not,  as  we  please.  We  may  demand  title  to  all 
patents  on  air-ship  inventions  before  allowing 
them  to  be  used,  thus  applying  the  rules  you  and 
your  predecessors  have  so  wisely  laid  down,  'He 
who  owns  land,  owns  to  the  sky !'  How  beautiful 
the  principle!  What  a  stimulus  to  enterprise  it 
offers — in  cornering  space!  How  it  serves  the 
beneficent  designs  of  Providence  and  the  common 
law,  that  those  in  whose  hands  this  planet  has  been 
placed  by  Omniscience,  may  build  up  those  aristoc 
racies  of  intellect  and  morals  and  power,  that  the 
possession  of  lands  always  fosters!  A  decision 


AMATEUR    DAY    IN    COURT         377 

against  us  would  subject  all  of  you  to  impeachment 
By  getting  hold  of  these  rights  first,  we  have  proved 
that  we  are  of  the  elect.  And  the  children  and  the 
children's  children  of  the  rest  of  mankind  will  have 
the  priceless  privilege  of  navigating  the  air  granted 
to  them  by  our  children  and  our  children's  children 
— on  proper  terms,  your  Honors,  on  proper  terms, 
to  be  fixed  by  the  owner.  Our  getting  of  these 
rights  may  be  a  horse  on  Mr.  Shayne ;  but  the  rules 
of  the  game — and  what  a  game  it  is,  your  Honors ! 
— give  us  the  pot  The  costs  constitute  the  kitty. 
Those  who  are  on  the  inside,  but  not  of  us  elect,  are 
the  boosters.  The  policeman  and  public  officer  is 
the  lookout.  And  whenever  any  one  starts  to  beat 
the  owners  of  the  layout — the  land — you'd  better 
copper  his  bet  and  play  him  to  lose.  I  have  made 
a  specialty  of  these  things — " 

Justice  McFadden  tapped  on  the  desk,  and  Craig- 
head  paused. 

"Your  language,  Mr.  Craighead,"  said  he,  "is 
unusual — though  your  points  seem  well  taken." 

"You're  on!"  ejaculated  Craighead,  "you're  on! 
In  fact,  to  speak  grammarianly,  'You're  on,  your 
Honor,  you're  honest'!" 

A  bailiff  interrupted  by  handing  a  note  to  the 
astonished  court. 

"Mr.  Craighead,"  said  Justice  McFadden,  "it 
is  suggested  that  you  are  not  a  licensed  practitioner 


378   VIRGINIA   OE  THE   AIK   LANES 

at  this  bar;  or  at  any  other.  This  extraordinary 
address  of  yours  leads  the  court  to  doubt.  What  is 
the  fact?" 

"Your  Honor,"  said  Craighead,  "I  have  cast  be 
fore  this  court  some  pearls  of  forensic  art  in  full 
faith  that  you  are  not  of  those  who  will  turn  and 
rend.  I  am  an  almost-practitioner,  a  near-lawyer. 
My  uncanny  cogency  of  reasoning  is  owing  to  my 
being  unspoiled  by  actual  practice.  I — " 

"Sir!"  said  Justice  McFadden,  "I  thought  I  rec 
ognized  you  as  a  member  of  this  bar!  Have  we 
not  met?" 

"Your  Honor,"  said  Craighead,  "studied  lan 
guage  under  me." 

"Language!"  roared  the  justice.     "When?" 

"I  was  your  teacher  in  English  and  drawing," 
replied  Craighead,  "in  Schlosser's  billiard-parlors — 
English  and  drawing,  with  incidental  instruction  in 
the  use  of  the  globes;  also  dry-nursing,  the  masse 
and  the  follow !" 

"Remove  him  from  tHe  bar,  Mr.  Bailiff!"  thun 
dered  the  court.  "Take  him  to  jail!" 

"Stung — in  the  same  old  aching  spot!"  cried 
Craighead.  "Still  the  Great  Uncalled!  But  know 
ye,  proud  Judges,  I  have  been  expelled  from  worse 
places  than  this!  What  harm  have  I  done  ye?  Fil- 
lev>  get  me  out  of  this !" 

The  bailiff,  a  tottering  old  functionary  with  a 


AMATEUR    DAY    IN    COURT        379 

white  mustache  of  Bismarckian  fierceness,  warily 
laid  a  raptorial  claw  on  Craighead's  sleeve. 

"Amateur  day  in  court!"  he  hissed  in  the  bailiff's 
ear.  "The  hook!  The  hook!  I  go;  but  my  logic 
sticks !  Stone  walls  do  not — " 

Mr.  Filley  here  interposed  to  such  effect  that 
Craighead  was  fined,  expelled  and  set  free.  Mr. 
Filley's  masterly  address  was  based  on  the  law  laid 
down  by  Craighead;  reference  to  which  finally 
evoked  a  smile  from  the  justices.  In  a  week  an  in 
junction  was  issued  as  prayed;  the  air-ships  of  the 
whole  nation  were  tied  up;  the  Universal  Nitrates 
and  Air  Products  Company  made  the  Carson-Craig- 
head  Aeronef  Company  its  sole  licensee;  the  Carson 
aeronefs  were  the  only  flying-machines  which 
could  be  used ;  the  law  of  real  property  was  vindi 
cated  ;  Aerostatic  Power  dropped  to  nominal  prices ; 
Craighead  was  suddenly  recognized  as  the  most 
overshadowing  genius  legal  strategy  had  ever 
known ;  Carson  stood  high  in  finance  and  diplomacy ; 
the  factories  for  manufacturing  flying-machines 
were  offered  to  him  at  his  own  terms,  payable  in 
Carson-Craighead  stocks;  thousands  of  men  were 
put  to  work  on  the  Carson  aeronefs;  the  Waddy 
family  began  to  occupy  space  in  newspapers  and 
magazines ;  the  world  of  finance  whirled  about  and 
readjusted  itself  to  the  explosion — all  of  which  took 
time. 


380    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

And  in  the  midst  of  the  first  excitement,  the  fol 
lowing  item  appeared  in  a  newspaper: 

"A  bizarre  result  of  the  McFadden  decision,  is 
the  marooning  of  Mr.  Finley  Shayne,  erstwhile 
Prince  of  the  Powers  of  the  Air,  at  Shayne's  Hold, 
where  the  Roc  was  enjoined.  There  is  no  egress 
from  the  Hold,  save  by  air-ship.  The  Carson  crowd 
has  the  air  rights  surrounding  the  mountain,  and 
Mr.  Shayne  and  his  family  have  no  means  of  getting 
away  except  by  violating  the  injunctions. 

"There  is  already  a  panic  among  the  servants. 
No  craft  save  the  Carson  aeronef,  the  Virginia,  can 
go  to  them — or  anywhere — and  Mr.  Shayne  will 
starve  rather  than  allow  her  to  land.  This  sounds 
like  a  joke;  but  Mr.  Shayne  takes  it  seriously.  The 
castaways  are  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Shayne,  Miss  Suarez, 
and  Mr.  Max  Silberberg.  Our  representative  will 
ascend  the  cliffs  of  the  Hold  if  possible;  and  our 
readers  may  look  for  an  account  of  the  'Castaways 
in  a  Palace'  to-morrow." 

Carson  approached  Craighead  with  this  paper, 
his  finger  pointing  to  the  item.  Craighead  read  it 
with  much  glee. 

"When  Shayne  has  eaten  the  last  poisoned  rat," 
said  he,  "and  worn  his  knees  raw  snaring  rattle 
snakes  off  the  cliff  for  food,  I'll  go  to  him,  and  say, 


AMATEUR    DAY    IN    COURT        381 

'Proud  ex-plute,  if  on  your  bandaged  knees  you 
beg  my  kingly  clemency  I'll  give  you  this  sand 
wich  and  bottle  of  beer.  Otherwise,  s-s-s-s-s-tarve ! 
and  be  'anged  to  you!  Either  that;  or  wire  him 
permission  to  depart  in  the  Roc.  Which  sayest 
thou?" 

"I  have  wired  him  offer  of  the  license,"  said  Car 
son,  "and  he  declined  insultingly.  Then  I  offered 
to  come  for  them  in  the  Virginia" 

"And  he  answered?" 

"That  he  would  shoot  me  or  any  man  in  my  em 
ploy  that  dared  invade  his  air  over  Shayne's  Hold !" 

"Advised  of  his  legal  rights,  evidently,"  said 
Craighead.  "Well,  as  to  the  fair  Virginia — what's 
to  be  done  to  save  the  blessed  damosel?" 

"I'm  going,"  replied  Carson,  "danger  or  no 
danger.  And  you  are  the  only  man  in  the  world  to 
go  with  me !" 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE  FLIGHT  OF  THE  ROC 

MR.  CARSON,  baffled  in  heaping  coals  of 
fire  on  Shayne's  head,  brooded  over  the 
fact  that  the  very  writ  of  injunction  that 
made  him  master  of  the  air,  confined  the  girl  for 
whom  he  had  striven,  in  a  petit  trianon  on  a  moun 
tain  top,  with  Max  Silberberg!  It  was  a  thing  to 
ponder  over  in  solitude,  and  to  make  one  absent- 
minded  in  public;  to  destroy  one's  appetite,  and 
make  sleep  a  tradition.  But  if  the  victor  felt  such 
ferment  of  spirits,  what  of  Mr.  Shayne,  and  the 
castaways  in  a  palace? 

None  of  them  knew  at  first  that  the  prison  was  a 
prison.  Then  Silberberg  received  the  news  hero 
ically,  seeing  in  it  a  Virginia-opportunity,  and  asked 
permission  to  break  the  news  to  her  himself.  She 
was  in  a  skiff  on  the  western  lake,  watching  the 
sunset,  and  surrounded  by  lotus  blooms,  but  rowed 
in  at  his  call. 

"I  was  just  coming  in,"  she  said.  "Let's  go  to  the 
house." 

382 


THE    FLIGHT    OF    THE    ROC        383 

"But  I  have  something  to  say  to  you,"  he  said. 
"Let's  sit  down." 

Virginia  took  a  seat  too  small  for  two,  leaving  him 
another  too  large  for  one — not  the  desired  arrange 
ment  at  all. 

"What  is  it,  Mr.  Silberberg?"  she  asked. 

"Virginia,"  said  he  impressively,  "did  you  ever 
read  of  a  man  and  a  girl  wrecked  on  a  lonely  island 
— isn't  there  such  a  story?" 

"Dozens  of  them,"  replied  Virginia.  "It's  quite 
the  vogue — in  fiction." 

"If  it  were  you  and  I,  it  would  be — " 

"Awfully  stupid,"  replied  Virginia.  "Unless 
you  could  make  a  Stock  Exchange  of  me,  or  manip 
ulate  the  water  of  the  sea  into  securities.  I  wouldn't 
stay!" 

"Not  with  me?" 

Virginia  shook  her  head.  "Not  with  any  one," 
said  she. 

"But  I  should  be  the  most  useful  and  obedient 
fellow!"  urged  Max,  now  quite  set  upon  the  pro 
ject.  "I  would  build  you  a  hut  of — of  seaweed — or 
copra — don't  they  use  those  things?" 

Virginia  laughed. 

"Better  build  it  of  beche-de-mer!"  she  suggested. 

"Virginia,"  said  Max,  oblivious  of  the  irony,  "we 
are  prisoners  together!" 

Virginia  looked  about  her.     Sunset  had  faded 


384    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

into  twilight.  Night-hawks  screamed  in  the  gloom 
of  the  lower  levels.  From  remote  cottages  lights 
twinkled;  yet  in  that  high  place  it  was  day.  A 
breeze  from  the  west  swept  her  hair,  cool,  free,  un- 
contaminated  by  any  touch  of  earth — truly,  the 
breeze  of  heaven.  A  prisoner!  Freedom  herself 
seemed  to  dwell  there.  Virginia  glanced  question- 
ingly  at  Silberberg. 

"This  imprisonment!"  she  cried. 

"Yes,"  said  Silberberg,  "we  are  shut  in ;  and  by 
that  fellow  Carson,  that — " 

Of  the  temporary  unclehood  of  Theodore  to 
Virginia,  or  the  Virginia's  night  visit  to  the  Hold, 
Mrs.  Shayne  had  not  thought  it  necessary  to  tell 
him;  therefore,  Mr.  Silberberg  was  ill-informed 
as  to  Virginia's  real  feelings  toward  Carson.  But 
he  remembered  the  night  on  the  Roc,  when  she  had 
taken  his  part — and  hesitated.  Virginia  looked 
away. 

"Yes?"  said  she.  "And  what  has  Mr.  Carson 
done?" 

"Done!"  replied  Max,  feeling  sure  that  she  could 
care  nothing  for  the  man  of  whom  she  spoke  in  so 
slighting  a  tone.  "He,  a  pauper,  and  his  crazy 
friend,  have  got  injunctions  against  travel  by  air 
ship,  and  even  against  me,  the  head  of  Federated 
Metals!  Our  courts  have  sunk  pretty  low!  It  is 
an  outrage!" 


THE    FLIGHT    OF    THE    ROC        385 

She  rose,  and  almost  ran  down  to  the  boat ;  slowly 
strolled  back,  and  seated  herself  on  the  bench.  Did 
Craighead's  mysterious  utterances  about  "surround 
ing"  New  York  and  "gridironing"  the  country  mean 
this  ?  Had  Theodore  found  a  way  to  defeat  Shayne, 
and  the  bitter,  cruel  Wizner? 

"We  are  alone,"  said  Silberberg,  "on  an  island 
in  the  air.  Are  you  sorry?" 

Virginia  did  not  smile;  she  was  thinking  of  the 
victory  of  Carson.  He  had  been  great  in  working  out 
his  creation,  and  in  that  deadly  duel  with  the  Stick 
leback;  and  now,  he  had  made  war  on  her  Uncle 
Finley,  the  tiger  of  the  Stock  Exchange,  in  his  very 
den — and  won !  She  was  ready  to  throw  up  her 
hat  and  hurrah.  But  yet,  this  last  victory  was  not 
like  the  first.  This  was  the  old  story  of  finding  how 
to  exploit  the  world  by  monopoly ;  that  was  doing, 
creating.  Must  success  be  so  often  only  victori 
ous  restraint  of  beneficent  human  effort?  Yet, 
she  was  glad  to  see  Theodore  victor  rather  than 
vanquished  in  any  fight  in  which — but  this  was 
folly !  He  had  mortally  offended  her  in  that  matter 
of  being  her  uncle;  all  was  over  between  them! 
Yet  she  finally  answered  Silberberg  inconsistently. 

"No,"  said  she,  "I  am  not  very  sorry.  But  I  shall 
need  my  hand,  now,  to  hold  my  dress  out  of  the 
dew !" 

Max  was  delighted  at  her  complaisance  and  at  his 


386    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

ability  to  become  excited  over  it.  He  was  not  so 
blase  after  all.  He  was  actually  trembling — a 
splendid  symptom. 

"Tell  me  once  more  that  you  are  not  sorry — 
please!"  said  he. 

"I  am  not,"  she  reassured  him.  "In  fact,  I — I 
am  rather  glad,  Mr.  Silberberg!" 

"Max!"  said  he  unctuously.  "Let  it  be  Max, 
your  fellow  prisoner!" 

"Well,  Max,  then !" 

It  is  hard  to  be  obliged  to  say  that  she  said  this 
snappishly,  abruptly,  unlovingly,  and  much  as  one 
might  toss  a  crust  to  a  drooling  dog,  and  tell  him  to 
get  out.  And  Mr.  Silberberg  took  the  crust  and 
was  satisfied. 

Poor  Shayne !  He  straitly  laid  the  vow  of  secrecy 
upon  all  not  to  tell  their  awful  state  to  Mrs.  Shayne. 

"She's  so — her  nervous  state,  you  know — I  have 
no  idea  what  she  might  do  if  she  found  out !  She'd 
go  wild.  She  hasn't  had  'no'  said  to  her  in  twenty 
years!  She  might  fall  dead,  with  that  heart  of 
hers!" 

Virginia  systematically  hid  from  Silberberg,  din 
ners  and  forced  interviews  bringing  no  advance 
ment  to  his  courtship.  He  began  to  wonder  if  the 
Suarez  temperament  were  not  rather  difficult,  and 
sometimes  felt  that  this  long  absence  from  stage 
entrances  and  all-night  cafes  hardly  paid.  To 


THE    FLIGHT    OF    THE    ROC        387 

leave  so  many  willing  beauties  for  an  obdurate  one, 
who,  by  greenroom  standards  was  no  beauty  after 
all,  seemed — to  use  his  own  self-revelatory  phrase — 
"bad  business."  And  the  longer  they  dwelt  in  their 
little  nest  the  more  these  cage-birds  of  the  law  failed 
to  agree.  Mrs.  Shayne  wanted  to  be  taken  to  the 
millionaire's  colony  in  Lake  Temagami,  where  they 
had  an  island,  or  to  have  La  Salvinella  and  her 
company  to  sing,  with  a  house  party  afterward. 
Shayne  was  convinced  that  the  devil  himself  must 
suggest  these  plans,  every  one  of  which  involved 
contempt  of  court. 

One  blowy  day  it  culminated.  Virginia,  from  a 
summer-house  opening  toward  New  York,  braved 
the  moist  gusts,  and  swept  the  sky  with  her  field- 
glasses  for — well,  for  something.  Silberberg  fol 
lowed  her,  swearing  inwardly  at  the  perversity  of 
the  girl;  and  as  he  found  her,  things  began  to  hap 
pen.  Far  over  to  the  southeast  and  driving  fast 
before  the  gale,  came  the  only  flying-machine  in 
America  free  of  the  McFadden  interdict.  Unfortu 
nate  Silberberg! 

At  the  same  hour  Mrs.  Shayne  burst  into  Shayne's 
den,  where  he  was  exchanging  acrimonious  wireless 
messages  with  his  bedeviled  lawyers,  her  breath 
short,  her  face  flushed,  her  attire  and  coiffure  dis 
arranged.  Shayne  knew  the  symptoms,  and  sprang 
to  her  side. 


388    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

After  several  attempts  she  spoke  with  great  dis 
tinctness. 

"Oh,  tell  me  it  isn't  true!"  she  cried.  "Tell  me 
that  I  am  not  humiliated,  actually  controlled,  by 
that  bandit  from  the  Alabama  forest !" 

Mr.  Shayne  begged  her  to  calm  herself,  which 
made  the  case  worse.  Mrs.  Shayne  drummed  on 
the  Persian  rug  with  her  heels,  and  yelped  short 
yelps  of  distress — or  temper. 

"If  Madeline's  been  talking  to  you,"  asserted 
Shayne,  "I'll  discharge  her!" 

"I  hire  and  discharge  my  own  maids,  Finley 
Shayne !"  said  she,  much  more  normal  now.  "Then 
it's  true !  My  God !  I'm  a  prisoner !" 

"It's  only  an  injunction,"  urged  Mr.  Shayne. 
"We  can't  use  the  Roc  because  the  court  forbids 
it—" 

"At  that  man  Carson's  request!"  ejaculated  Mrs. 
Shayne.  "Imprisoned  by  him  who  insulted  me, 
ruined  my  niece,  struck  you,  would  have  murdered 
Mr.  Silberberg,  and  now  by  the  venal  decision  of  a 
purchased  court,  he  makes  prisoners  of  us  all!  I 
tell  you,  Finley  Shayne,  it  is  a  trick  of  the  prole 
tariate  to  immure  us  here  and  come  at  their  leisure 
and  kill  us!" 

"My  dear,  my  dear!"  urged  Mr.  Shayne.  "That 
is  quite  impossible !  We  could  go  in  the  Roc  rather 
than  be  murdered.  It  is  absurd  to  suppose — " 


THE    FLIGHT    OF    THE    ROC        389 

"Then  I  am  an  imbecile!"  wailed  Mrs.  Shayne. 
"You  imprison  me,  and  then  insult  me.  Coward! 
If  going  in  the  Roc  is  so  easy,  why  don't  we  go? 
I  thought  I  was  married  to  a  man !" 

Shayne  sprang  to  his  feet,  so  completely  subdued 
that  he  became  violent.  He  would  go  to  jail;  he 
would  violate  every  injunction  ever  issued  since  the 
days  of  the  Star  Chamber,  before  he  would  be  so 
lashed  and  excoriated. 

"Marie,"  said  he,  "the  Roc  will  be  ready  in  half 
an  hour !  I'll  show  you  I'm  no  coward !  Get  ready ! 
Call  Virginia  and  Silberberg!  Hurry!" 

Mrs.  Shayne  knew  better  than  to  try  stopping  him. 
He  yelled  messages  and  orders  into  telephones.  He 
issued  hurry  calls  for  valets  and  maids.  The  force- 
fulness  that  had  made  him  what  he  was  came  up 
permost.  The  great  summer  home  woke  up  and 
hummed.  About  the  air-ship  garage  the  mechanics 
began  testing  the  machinery;  the  pilot  and  the  en 
gineers  appeared,  grumbling  at  Mr.  Shayne's  defi 
ance  of  the  courts  rather  than  be  called  a  poltroon 
by  the  wife  of  his  bosom.  Physicists  should  not 
neglect  in  the  summation  of  forces  the  "E.  M.  F." 
and  the  "H.  P."  of  woman's  tears. 

Suddenly  into  Shayne's  den  burst  Silberberg, 
'his  face  red,  his  whole  being  simmering  hot. 
Shayne  faced  him  and  asked  fairly  what  the  devil 
the  matter  was. 


390    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

"I'm  done  with  you!"  spluttered  Silberberg. 
"Get  me  away  from  here,  if  you're  a  gentleman !" 

"If  I  wasn't  I'd  have  you  kicked  off!"  said 
Shayne.  "You  can't  jump  on  me,  if  you  are  my 
guest!  I'll—" 

"There  are  other  women  in  the  world !"  cried  Sil 
berberg.  "I—" 

"She's  refused  you,  then?" 

"In  a  way  I  can't  stand,"  protested  Silberberg, 
with  hands  upflung.  "She  said  I  was  disgusting! 
I  can't  stay !" 

"Well,"  answered  Shayne,  "the  Roc  sails  at  once." 

"It's  risky,  in  the  face  of  the  injunction — " 

"Damn  the  injunction !"  shouted  Shayne.  "If 
you're  afraid,  stay  with  the  servants !" 

The  rest  were  at  the  garage  before  Silberberg; 
Mrs.  Shayne  in  the  cabin,  Virginia  and  Shayne  in 
animated  debate  on  the  platform. 

"Well,"  Shayne  was  saying  to  her,  "stay,  then, 
like  a  simpleton !  But  how  are  you  to  get  away  ? 
I  don't  know  how  long  the  courts  will  keep  this  up — 
and  our  running  the  injunction  won't  make  it  any 
shorter!" 

"It's  blowing  awfully !"  said  Silberberg. 

Nobody  noticed  him  but  the  pilot 

"I  know  it,  sir,"  said  he.  "It's  foolhardy  to  take 
this  gas-bag  out.  It's  as  apt  to  mean  the  Atlantic 
as  anything.  There's  a  nor'west  gale  at  Sackett's 


THE    FLIGHT    OF    THE    ROC        391 

Harbor,  and  no  chance  to  make  Temagami.  I  don't 
like  it,  if  you  ask  me!" 

"Shayne,"  said  Silberberg,  "the  pilot  says  it's  not 
fit  to  go  out !" 

"Then  stay!"  answered  Shayne.  "You're  wel 
come  to  the  house." 

"But,  Shayne,"  cried  Silberberg,  "it  may  mean 
getting  whirled  out  to  sea  or — " 

"Out  to  sea!"  sneered  Shayne.  "And  the  wind 
southeast!  Stay  if  you're  afraid!  Virginia,  Mr. 
Silberberg's  going  to  stay  with  you !" 

"I'm  not  a  fool,"  protested  Silberberg,  "and  I 
shan't  go  in  this  weather — for  any  man !" 

Virginia  walked  aboard,  with  a  look  of  disdain — 
the  bitterest  cut  of  all.  The  winches  drew  back  the 
leaves  of  the  great  roof  to  let  out  the  Roc,  and  the 
surge  of  the  outer  air  filled  the  garage  with  windy 
tumults.  Silberberg,  suddenly  resolving  to  go, 
leaped  to  the  gang-plank ;  but  the  ship  rocked,  and 
the  wind  howled  so  alarmingly,  and  the  pessimistic 
forecast  of  the  pilot  returned  so  to  freeze  his  heart 
that  he  retreated  to  the  platform,  whining,  threat 
ening  Shayne  with  the  wrath  of  Federated  Metals 
on  'Change,  whimpering  like  a  whipped  school 
boy. 

Shayne,  engrossed  in  the  clearance  of  the  ship, 
paid  him  no  attention.  The  drawbridge  roof 
dropped  down;  the  Roc,  huge,  steely  and  majestic, 


392    VIRGINIA    OF.   THE    AIR    LANES 

went  out  of  her  vast  nest,  careening  sharply  against 
the  wall  as  she  sailed  out;  and  under  splendid  man 
agement  fell  off  before  the  weather,  the  sense  of 
windiness  ceasing  as  she  caught  step  with  the  cur 
rent.  Her  master  felt  free,  and  went  in  to  exult  with 
Mrs.  Shayne.  He  was  an  exemplary  husband. 

The  clouds  consisted  of  an  upper  high  stratum 
of  plain,  semi-transparent  gray,  apparently  mo 
tionless,  and  a  flying  scud  of  broken  masses,  which 
swept  the  higher  hills,  and  drove  north  directly  into 
the  face  of  a  rising  body  of  rounded  masses  ad 
vancing  in  the  face  of  the  wind.  Shayne  knew  what 
these  indications  meant;  but  he  sullenly  gave  or 
ders  to  lay  a  course  dead  for  Temagami  in  spite  of 
the  northwesterly  wind  back  of  those  clouds.  By 
waiting  for  the  turn  of  the  wind,  they  might  have 
made  New  York;  but  every  mile  of  northing  took 
them  farther  from  the  central  "low,"  and  into  a 
larger  circle  of  the  huge  whirl  of  the  gale.  The 
pilot  knew  that  Temagami  was  out  of  the  question, 
though  the  wind  blew  dead  toward  it — nay,  because 
of  that  fact :  for  a  high  wind  never  blows  straight, 
but  always  in  a  circle  about  the  "low !"  So  Shayne, 
violating  the  rules  of  weather  outside  to  make  sun 
shine  within,  was  not  surprised  when  told  that  they 
were  approaching  the  line  of  reversal — the  turn  of 
the  wind. 


THE    FLIGHT    OF   THE    ROC        393 

"Head  against  it,"  ordered  Shayne,  "and  cross 
Lake  Ontario  before  dark  if  you  can." 

"It  looks  more  than  we  can  face,"  said  the  pilot 
"If  it  is,  shall  we  run  before  it,  and  try  for  a 
Pennsylvania  port?" 

"Use  your  best  judgment,"  said  Shayne. 

"Yes,  sir,"  said  the  pilot,  whose  best  judgment 
had  been  to  stay  housed.  "And  you  may  want  to 
know,  sir,  there's  some  sort  of  craft  astern,  and 
overhauling  us." 

"The  devil !"  ejaculated  Shayne.  "I'll  take  a  look 
at  her." 

The  binoculars  revealed  an  aeronef  perhaps  five 
miles  astern,  with  wide  wings,  in  which  he  could  see 
the  shimmer  of  blades  in  rapid  revolution.  The 
exclusive  rights  of  the  Virginia,  the  singular  swift 
ness  and  power  of  the  flight  of  this  aeronef,  and  the 
shimmer  in  her  wings  assured  Shayne  that  he  was 
pursued  by  the  machine  which  had  wrecked  his 
monopoly  and  established  a  new  and  more  impreg 
nable  one,  founded  on  the  old  and  time-tried  basic 
title  to  rulership,  landlordism.  Shayne  gripped  the 
glass  and  set  his  teeth.  The  hounds  had  been  watch 
ing,  then,  to  see  him  break  their  doubly-accursed 
injunction !  They  wanted  to  put  him  in  jail.  The 
shame  of  it!  He,  Finley  Shayne,  a  fugitive — for 
sailing  God's  free  air,  in  his  own  ship!  And  the 


394   VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

danger  of  it,  too ;  for  Canada  and  safety  now  looked 
utterly  unattainable. 

The  mountains  slipped  from  under  them,  and  the 
farms  and  villages  took  their  places  on  the  moving 
concave  of  the  earth,  as  the  big  ship  made  speed 
toward  the  Mohawk.  The  south  wind  fell,  the 
houses  and  villages  passed  more  leisurely,  and  the 
roar  in  the  trees  ceased.  Entirely  against  his  judg 
ment,  noting  that  the  speed  already  made  seemed  to 
mean  Toronto  by  sunset,  Shayne's  hope  returned  of 
success  in  this  mad  voyage  against  command  and 
advice.  If  he  could  leave  that  sleuth-hound  ae'ro- 
nef  behind,  or  reach  a  foreign  jurisdiction,  he  would 
be  satisfied  with  ever  so  small  and  temporary  a 
triumph.  Thus  mused  Shayne;  and  even  as  he  so 
thought,  the  Roc  was  struck  by  the  opposing  gale; 
a  sudden  hurricane  smote  her  decks  as  her  momen 
tum  drove  her  through  the  north  wind ;  she  turned 
before  it;  the  great  concave  panorama  below  slowly 
reversed,  and  began  paying  off  to  the  north  as  the 
vast  aeronat  drifted  like  a  bubble  to  the  south, 
before  the  fiercest  blow  she  had  ever  dared  en 
counter.  Canada  was  out  of  the  question.  The  Roc 
was  caught  in  the  full  sweep  of  a  real  gale.  If  it 
kept  blowing  south,  she  could  ride  it  out;  but  they 
all  knew  that  these  winds  pivot  "counter-clock 
wise;"  that  the  shift  would  be  from  northerly  to 
westerly,  and  that  the  Atlantic's  lee  shore  cut  across 


THE    FLIGHT    OF.   THE    ROC        395 

their  course.  Anger  and  pique  decreased ;  the  sense 
of  danger  waxed — and  he  paced  the  steady  deck, 
looked  at  the  racing  towns  and  rivers  and  hills, 
listened  to  the  crescendo  roar  in  the  trees,  and  grew 
pale. 

"If  we  reach  an  aerial  harbor,"  said  he,  through" 
the  speaking-tube,  "what  do  you  think  of  trying  a 
landing?" 

"She'd  rip  to  strings,"  said  the  pilot.  "We'd  be 
killed.  I'd  sooner  try  the  rip-cord  in  a  plowed 
field :  some  of  us  might  get  off  with  broken  bones — 
that  way." 

"Oh,  well,"  said  Shayne,  "we  haven't  come  to 
that ;  and  we're  going  along  very  comfortably." 

"As  yet  we  are,  sir,"  said  the  pilot. 

During  luncheon  Mrs.  Shayne  ventured  a  series 
of  remarks  on  the  tyranny  of  the  courts. 

"When  they  supported  property  and  the  estab 
lished  order,"  said  Mrs.  Shayne,  "they  were  entitled 
to  respect.  But  now  they  destroy  our  property! 
They  have  dragged  their  ermine  in  the  mire.  They 
prostitute  the  law  to  adventurers  and  criminals — " 

"Theodore  Carson,"  said  Virginia,  "is  neither  an 
adventurer  nor  a  criminal!  I  will  not  hear  him 
slandered!  And  this  is  no  more  unjust  than  what 
Uncle  Finley  did  to  get  his  money !" 

"Infatuated  girl!"  said  Aunt  Marie. 

"I  won't  hear  that,  either!"  cried  Virginia.     "I 


396    VIRGINIA    OF.    THE    AIR    LANES 

shall  never  speak  to  him  again  !  But  he  is  a  hero ! 
He  almost  drowned  to  save  me !  He  worked  to  save 
me,  with  the  sea  lapping  for  him.  And  he  never 
faltered,  even  when  the  f-file  t-tore  his  p-poor 
fingers  to  shreds.  He's  worth  all  of  you!  All  of 
you!  There!  And  I  hate  him!  So  there!" 

With  strife  in  the  cabin,  and  the  Atlantic  under 
the  lee,  there  was  trouble  enough.  And  still  that 
infernal  Virginia  hung  about  at  five  miles  or  so 
astern,  like  a  wolf  stalking  a  deer — under  her  old 
captain,  and  her  old  crew,  again  complaining  and 
almost  mutinous;  for  Mr.  Craighead  had  suddenly 
resolved  to  return  to  the  Waddy  home,  and,  as  he 
stated  it,  "add  to  an  unique  collection  of  leather 
medals  the  finishing  touch  of  the  booby  prize  in  the 
wooing  handicap." 

Carson  shanghaied  him  by  will  power  however; 
and  now  the  two  celebrities  of  the  new  monopoly 
followed  the  huge  aeronat  across  the  states,  anxious 
at  Shayne's  frenzied  breaking  of  bounds  in  this 
tempest,  as  they  saw  the  Roc  caught  in  the  north 
wind,  and  borne  before  it  with  the  speed  of  its  tre 
mendously  increased  energy.  For  the  Roc  seemed 
doomed  to  the  aerostat  shipwreck — a  shattering  fall 
in  landing,  or  watery  extinction  in  the  open  sea. 
And  Virginia!  Agonizing  for  her,  Carson  fol 
lowed,  watching  like  a  wrecker  when  a  full- rigged 
ship  drives  on  a  reef. 


THE    FLIGHT   OF.   THE    ROC        397 

And  yet,  even  after  her  turn,  all  seemed  well 
with  the  Roc.  The  sea  lay  south  and  east.  Northing 
was  impossible;  but  edging  into  the  gale  with  all 
the  power  of  her  screws  she  worked  stanchly  off 
into  the  west.  Yet,  Carson  knew  it  was  a  losing  fight ; 
and  Shayne  walked  the  deck  in  agony  as  she  gave 
ground  at  last  before  the  wind,  which  howled  in 
across  the  Pennsylvania  mountains  and  beat  the 
great  hunted  creature  to  the  Delaware  at  Philadel 
phia.  He  had  risen  high  for  a  gentler  wind,  or  a 
counter  drift ;  but,  frightened  at  his  wild  flight,  had 
gone  down  again  to  profit  by  the  earth's  friction  on 
the  air.  And  still  she  fled  seaward,  her  best-advised 
people  stressful  with  fear.  Mrs.  Shayne  was  asleep; 
but  Virginia  came  on  deck  and  listened  to  the  roar 
from  beneath  with  awe  in  her  face;  for  she  knew 
that  the  gale  forbade  landing,  and  that  their  only 
hope  lay  in  keeping  above  the  continent,  and  riding 
it  out. 

"Where  are  we,  uncle?"  said  she.  "And  whicK 
way  are  we  going?" 

"Oh,"  replied  Shayne,  "we're  all  right  On  our 
course!" 

Time  enough  for  the  trouble  when  the  crisis 
came.  For  shipwreck  in  aerial  voyaging  has  no 
tossing  before  the  cyclone  ere  the  final  plunge,  no 
wrestle  with  the  waves,  no  tiring  at  the  pumps,  no 
roaring  of  white  surf  scabbarding  the  teeth  of  the 


398    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

reef.  All  is  steady  and  comfortable — until  under 
neath  yawns  destruction.  Though  every  moment  in 
evitably  marked  a  loss  of  gas  in  the  balloon,  once 
out  at  sea,  they  must  keep  up  to  win  the  far  African 
coast  or  to  bear  around  the  whirl  to  Nova  Scotia 
or  Labrador — and  in  that  quadrant  was  rain.  Be 
fore  that  could  be  done  the  huge  gas-holder  would 
grow  wrinkled,  flabby,  weak;  the  car  would  drag 
her  down;  the  stronger  ones  would  cut  everything 
away  to  lighten  the  ship;  the  weaker  would  drop 
into  the  brine  with  no  hope  save  in  the  prayer-time 
accorded  by  the  life-preservers ;  and  finally,  the  last 
man  clinging  to  the  fragments  of  the  nacelle  would 
see  the  huge  mass  of  flapping  silk  and  gum  and  tin 
foil  drop  into  the  waves,  himself  utterly  lost  in  the 
utter  desolation  of  hopeless  solitude — food  for  the 
fishes. 

Shayne  knew  this  as  he  sent  Virginia  away ;  and 
so  did  Carson.  For  while  the  Delaware  yet  flowed 
below,  far  to  the  east  there  appeared  on  the  skirt 
of  the  landscape  a  hem  of  blue — the  Atlantic.  With 
her  prow  to  the  blast,  fighting  for  every  inch,  losing 
ground  like  a  swimmer  in  a  spate,  the  Roc  delayed 
her  fate.  Running  with  this  wind,  the  crossing  of 
New  Jersey  would  be  a  matter  of  minutes;  but  she 
made  of  it  an  agony  of  hours.  Dinner  was  served, 
Shayne  trying  to  smile,  and  discussing  with  these 
dear  women  the  time  of  reaching  Temagami.  Mrs. 
Shayne  was  quite  at  ease;  but  Virginia  felt  the 


THE    FLIGHT    OF   THE    ROC        399 

anxiety  in  Shayne's  pale  face,  and  in  the  drawn  fea 
tures  of  the  pilot  and  engineers  as  they  struggled, 
struggled,  struggled  to  hold  the  immense  hull 
against  the  remorseless  gale.  And  still  the  hem  of 
blue  toward  which  they  drifted,  stern  on,  crept  far 
ther  and  farther  down  the  hollowed  earth.  Occa 
sionally,  in  the  lulls  of  the  wind,  the  Roc,  stanchest 
of  her  kind,  sank  low  to  try  for  a  landing,  only  to 
find  that,  after  all,  she  still  drove  on  so  swiftly  as  to 
make  it  madness. 

Virginia  stood  gazing  ahead,  not  knowing  that 
their  actual  flight  was  astern.  She  thought  she  was 
looking  toward  her  destination.  She  had  lost  sight 
of  the  Virginia,  and  she  was  not  sorry,  nor  dis 
pleased  to  have  Carson  give  chase,  unsuccessfully. 
She  was  very  angry  with  him.  She  repeated  that 
to  herself,  even  though  distracted  by  the  evident 
distress  of  her  uncle,  of  the  men,  and  of  the  Roc 
herself;  for  Virginia  could  feel  in  the  shiverings 
and  tremblings  of  the  ship  the  anguish  of  hard  and 
unremitting  struggle.  And  yet,  the  landscape  ahead 
was  one  devoid  of  danger. 

Suddenly  she  looked  astern,  and  was  amazed  that 
such  a  body  of  water  had  been  passed  without  her 
knowing  it;  as  one  journeying  over  a  prairie  might 
feel,  to  look  behind  and  see  an  ocean.  The  subtle 
expression  of  the  tossing  waves  told  her  that  this  was 
the  open  sea.  Inshore  its  calm  was  undisturbed, 
save  by  the  churning  of  dead  swells  from  the  tumult 


400   VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

outside;  but  beyond,  it  was  terrible.  For  miles  and 
miles  she  saw  great  waves  bursting  in  immense 
explosions  of  spindrift  and  spray,  swept  clean  of 
shipping,  the  glassy  rear  of  the  racing  billows 
throwing  back  to  her  eyes  sinister  glints  from  the 
rare  gleams  of  the  westering  sun ;  and  out  into  this 
fierce  fight  of  the  elements  the  Roc  was  drifting, 
stern  on,  in  spite  of  the  frenzied  thrust  of  her  great 
screws  into  the  suck  of  the  gale.  Virginia  neither 
screamed  nor  fainted,  though  she  knew  at  once  what 
it  all  meant.  The  hand  on  the  rail  gripped  it  more 
tightly,  and  the  other  trembled  as  she  drew  it  across 
her  blanching  lips. 

Should  she  tell  her  aunt?  It  would  do  no  good. 
There  were  hours  yet  in  which  things  might  be 
done, — hours  of  supreme  suffering.  She  must  avoid 
troubling  the  men,  too.  She  realized  the  struggle 
which  she  had  hitherto  only  felt,  and  she  felt  tender 
toward  her  uncle — toward  them  all.  They  were 
fighting  like  men  against  odds. 

"Uncle,"  said  she,  pointing  to  the  on-coming 
shore,  "I  see !  It's  the  ocean !" 

"Yes !"  said  he.  "God  forgive  me,  Virginia,  for 
murdering  you  and  your  aunt !  Go  to  her !" 

"Not  now,"  replied  Virginia.  "I  can't  keep  her 
— from  feeling — how  frightened  I  am.  Give  me 
something  to  do,  uncle!" 

Shayne  threw  up  his  hands,  empty,  as  might  a 


THE    FLIGHT    OF   THE    ROC        401 

swordsman  who  had  lost  his  blade — a  gesture  elo 
quent  of  powerlessness.  They  stood  on  the  deck 
clinging  to  each  other,  closer  than  they  had  ever 
been,  watching  the  water  creep  nearer  and  nearer. 

"If  it  weren't  for  one  thing,"  said  Shayne,  "I'd 
drop  her  into  the  shallow  water  and  take  chances. 
But  the  drift  would  be  outward.  And  if  we  stay  up 
as  long  as  we  can,  we  may  run  around  the  whirl  and 
make  Newfoundland  or  Nova  Scotia.  It's  a  chance. 
And  then,  there's  the  possibility  of  dropping  her 
into  the  path  of  a  liner.  Good  God — the  chance! 
And  this  morning  we  were  at  the  Hold,  safe,  and 
a  hundred  miles  inland!  Fool!" 

Virginia  pressed  his  arm.     "Uncle — "  said  she. 

"On  board  the  ship !" 

The  call  sounded  in  their  very  ears.  Within  thirty 
yards  hung  the  Virginia,  headed  into  the  wind,  and 
drifting  easily  with  the  Roc. 

"What  do  you  propose  to  do?" 

It  was  Carson's  voice  through  the  trumpet;  but 
it  sounded  sweet  to  Shayne.  He  had  no  idea  of 
any  manner  in  which  the  Virginia  would  aid  him, 
but  the  sickening  speed  with  which  he  was  driving 
out  to  sea  made  anything  welcome  as  a  modification 
of  his  despair. 

"Do  you  understand?"  shouted  Carson.  "You 
are  lost  if  you  drift  on.  Drop  your  painter,  and 
I'll  give  you  a  tow !" 


402    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

The  thing  was  absurd  on  its  face.  The  wind  had 
grown  to  a  hurricane.  Such  a  thing  as  this  little 
machine's  towing  the  Roc  against  it  was  unthink 
able.  And  yet — swallowing  his  pride,  Shayne  or 
dered  the  painter  dropped ;  and  as  it  hung  from  the 
Roc's  nose,  the  Virginia,  running  easily  into  the 
wind,  dropped  back,  took  the  line,  and  with  a  word 
of  cheer  she  walked  up  into  the  blast,  pulled  the 
painter  taut — and  like  a  tug  with  a  freighter,  threw 
herself  against  the  pressure  of  the  immense  gas 
bag;  and  for  the  first  time  the  people  on  the  aero- 
nat's  deck  clung  fast  and  turned  their  faces  from 
the  wind  as  they  felt  its  stroke. 

"Hurrah!"  came  the  cry  from  the  engine-room. 
"She's  holding  us!" 

For  a  moment  she  did ;  and  then  she  dropped  the 
painter,  and  the  abandoned  Roc  fell  off  before  the 
storm  again.  The  aeronef,  having  shown  her  power, 
had  quitted  its  exercise.  The  Virginia,  released 
from  the  pull,  had  darted  away,  and  was  now  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  off.  Shayne  flamed  hot  with 
anger  at  this  cruel  mocking.  The  men  in  the 
engine-room  grew  sick  with  despair;  and  when  the 
Virginia,  with  a  swift  circling  swoop,  came  along 
side  again,  they  begged  Carson,  for  God's  sake,  not 
to  let  all  of  them  drown  just  because  he  hated 
Shayne. 

"Stand  off,  you  infernal  scoundrel !"  cried  Shayne. 


THE    FLIGHT    OF    THE    ROC        403 

"Stand  off,  or  I'll  shoot  you !  You  are  the  cause  of 
all  this;  and  I'll  kill  you,  if  you  don't  stand  off!" 

"Don't  make  a  fool  of  yourself!"  called  Carson. 
"I  want  you  to  go  lower." 

"Why?" 

"And  put  on  your  life-preservers,"  went  on 
Carson. 

"Why?"  insisted  Shayne. 

"I'm  going  to  put  you  in  the  water,"  said  Carson. 

"No,  you'll  not !"  said  Shayne.  "Willett,  keep  her 
up  and  run  before  it.  We'll  circle  the  whirl  and 
make  shore." 

"Mr.  Willett,"  said  Carson,  "do  as  I  say,  or  as 
there  is  a  God  in  Heaven,  I'll  go  above,  rip  your 
envelop  and  let  you  drop  from  wherever  you  hap 
pen  to  be!" 

"You  obey  orders !"  cried  Shayne. 

"If  Mr.  Shayne  interferes,"  said  Carson,  "con 
fine  him;  and  take  orders  from  me — or  drop  from 
here !  Will  you  do  as  I  say  ?" 

The  second  engineer  went  forward  to  Mr.  Shayne. 
The  answer  of  the  others  was  to  set  the  depressor- 
screws  going;  and  the  doomed  Roc,  now  quite  over 
the  sea,  dropped  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  waves. 

"Now,"  said  Carson,  "I'll  tell  you  why  I  turned 
you  adrift.  Your  envelop  won't  stand  the  strain.  It 
had  started  to  cave  in  at  the  bow,  and  in  another  mo 
ment  it  would  have  ripped  open  and  dropped  you. 


404   VIRGINIA    OF    THE   AIR    LANES 

But  I'm  going  to  give  it  the  test.  If  the  'Roc  can 
stand  the  strain,  I  believe  I  can  tow  her  and  land 
you.  If  she  doesn't  I  shall  drop  you  into  the  At 
lantic,  you'll  collapse,  and  I  can  tow  you  in  the  water 
easily.  Put  on  your  life-preservers !  Hurry !" 

Again  the  Virginia  took  the  painter  aboard,  and 
surged  against  the  gale;  but  this  time  drifting  with 
the  wind  while  the  life-preservers  were  adjusted. 
Carson  was  confronted  with  a  fearful  alternative. 
If  he  let  the  Roc  go  out  to  sea,  she  had  a  bare 
chance — though  no  such  escape  was  recorded.  On 
the  other  hand,  dropping  her  in  the  water  was  an 
expedient  full  of  danger.  The  collapsed  envelop 
might  blanket  the  passengers  and  drown  them; 
some  might  be  hit  by  breaking  beams,  or  stunned 
by  concussion  with  the  water  from  a  badly-judged 
height.  And  Virginia ! — Yet,  weighing  the  chances, 
he  did  not  hesitate. 

"All  ready?"  he  shouted. 

"No !"  cried  Shayne.     "Come  back  here!" 

"All  ready,  Willett?"  asked  Carson. 

"Yes!"  cried  Willett.     "Go  ahead!" 

Slowly  crowding  on  power,  the  Virginia  fought 
forward  into  the  storm.  The  painter  strained  taut 
as  a  steel  bar,  and  Carson  wondered  if  it  would 
hold.  The  ship  slowed  up  in  their  drift,  stopped; 
and  a  wild  cheer  went  up  from  the  crews,  the  pas 
sengers,  and  from  the  people  gathered  on  shore,  as 


THE    FLIGHT    OF    THE    ROC        405 

they  made  head  against  the  wind:  when  suddenly 
a  rainy  gust  bore  down  on  them  in  fury,  the  en 
velop  of  the  Roc  crushed  in  at  the  bow,  like  a  col 
lapsible  tube,  with  an  awful  ripping  sound,  and  the 
huge  steely  bubble — longer  than  a  city  block,  higher 
than  a  four-story  building — went  out  like  a  pricked 
bubble,  became  a  ragged  cloud  of  tattered  frag 
ments,  and  with  all  on  board  fell  into  the  Atlantic, 
and  floated  in  a  shapeless  mass  of  wreckage,  on  the 
churning  dead  swells  in  the  quieter  waters  near 
the  shore.  Carson  looked  down  to  see  whether  the 
form  he  loved  was  smothered  under  the  torn  fabric 
or  floating  free,  but  never  halted  for  the  drownimg 
or  the  living.  He  let  out  fifty  yards  of  line  he  had 
made  fast  to  the  painter  to  give  slack  for  the  Roc's 
fall;  and  then  with  frenzied  eagerness,  he  dragged 
the  whole  huge  mass  ashore  and,  as  the  Virginia 
alighted  on  the  beach,  her  skipper  leaping  out  began 
a  fierce  onslaught  on  the  wreckage,  seeking  in  its 
chaotic  mass  for  her  whose  drenched  form  he 
dreaded  to  see. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

FINALE 

THE  unities  doubtless  require  that  Theodore 
Carson  be  given  the  credit  of  diving  under 
the  wreck  of  the  Roc  and  rescuing  his  lady 
love.  The  facts  are  that  he  met  at  the  water's  edge 
a  huge  Swede  in  overalls  carrying  Virginia  and  tow 
ing  Mr.  Shayne  by  a  line,  much  to  the  discomfiture 
of  that  gentleman,  who  had  a  tendency  to  turn  over 
with  his  nose  in  the  sand.  Craighead,  seeing  a  glint 
of  red  in  the  water,  rescued  a  red  mantilla,  while 
Mrs.  Shayne  was  floated  ashore  by  Willett.  The 
first  engineer  swam  in  with  some  automatic  instru 
ment  from  the  engine-room  in  his  teeth,  swearing 
at  the  second  engineer  for  dropping  its  mate.  The 
gathering  was  one  of  pale,  trembling,  uninjured 
people.  The  Roc  had  been  nursed  down  close  to  the 
water  by  Carson,  and  as  she  collapsed,  her  envelop 
blew  aside  and  turned  over,  swinging  her  people 
clear — a  marvelous  escape. 

Theodore  carried  Virginia  to  a  seaside  cottage 
just  in  process  of  being  put  in  order  for  its  owners. 

406 


FINALE  407 

"Tell  me,  dearest,"  he  kept  whispering,  "that  you 
are  safe — safe !" 

Virginia,  wet,  draggled,  her  strong  little  form 
resembling  a  rough-cast  statue  of  some  one  quite 
irresistibly  shapely,  silently  hung  about  his  neck, 
limp,  weak  in  the  knees  from  excitement,  but  really 
not  much  more  so  than  Theodore.  It  did  not  occur 
to  her,  however,  to  ask  him  to  let  her  walk;  and 
somehow  she  had  forgotten  how  angry  she  was. 
Life  had  suddenly  expanded  to  a  long  vista  of 
scenes  in  which,  whenever  there  was  danger,  he  was 
present  to  succor  and  to  comfort.  She  closed  her 
eyes  and  clung  about  his  neck,  sprinkling  the  way 
with  brine  from  her  dress,  and  restraining  an  im 
pulse  to  hug  him  spasmodically;  and  once  in  the 
comfortable  room,  she  did  allow  her  arms  to  tighten 
a  bit  as  he  laid  her  down. 

He  kissed  her  softly,  gently,  lingeringly,  and  as 
of  right;  and  was  astounded  that  she  remained  quite 
quiescent  under  the  outrage.  A  lady  can  not  al 
ways  have  presence  of  mind ;  so  he  took  a  mean  ad 
vantage  of  his  position,  and  instead  of  getting  back 
into  her  good  graces  gradually,  he  made  his  ap 
pearance  all  at  once  in  the  citadel,  as  he  had  done 
on  the  parade-ground  of  the  fort,  with  no  pass  in 
either  case.  He  asked  no  hackneyed  questions. 

"You  love  me!"  said  he.  "I'm  not  going  to  let 
you  leave  me  again!  Darling!" 


408    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

With  no  rub-down  to  stimulate  reaction  after  her 
plunge,  and  lying  there  in  her  wet  clothes,  Virginia 
glowed  crimson;  but  she  held  her  anger  in  check. 
In  fact,  as  the  servant  came  in  with  dry  clothing,  she 
squeezed  his  hand  in  gratitude,  and  forgot  to  bal 
ance  her  books  by  frowning.  Carson  went  out  radi 
ant,  meeting  Craighead  with  the  red  mantilla  on  his 
arm. 

"You  all  do  know  this  mantle,"  said  he,  "but  not 
the  soul  of  paltry  in  things  great.  Ethically,  this  is 
a  lost  damosel  snatched  from  a  watery  grave  as  she 
went  down  in  the  penultimate  descent.  I  put  my 
confounded  life  in  pawn,  for  what?  For  a  mere 
trumpery  kick-shaw  of  silk  with  no  more  woman 
in  it  than  a  rabbit.  Rotten !  Rotten !  This  'ere  res 
cue  ain't  up  to  sample !" 

"Craighead,"  said  Carson,  "I  want  you  to  run  an 
errand,  and  be  serious." 

"That  will  be  a  distinct  rise  in  spirits,"  answered 
Craighead.  "At  present  I'm  tragic — I  may  get 
even  gay!  What  errand  wouldest  thou?  Deliver: 
I'll  put  a  gurgle  round  the  block  in  forty  minutes." 

"Run  for  a  doctor,"  said  Carson.  "Craighead,  I 
believe  she  loves  me." 

"Past  all  doctoring,"  said  Craighead.  "Don't  you 
want  any  one  else?" 

"No,"  answered  Carson,  "I  can  think  of  no  one. 
But  run !" 


FINALE  409 

"If  I  think  of  any  one  else — " 

"Do  whatever  you'd  want  done  for  yourself  in 
my  place !"  cried  Carson  impatiently.  "But  hurry !" 

Pacing  up  and  down  the  veranda,  Carson  was  in 
a  delicious  disturbance  of  spirits.  He  forgot  Shayne 
and  his  wife,  but  ran  down  to  see  to  the  Virginia 
and  found  in  charge  the  village  constable,  who 
marched  round  and  round  her,  brandishing  a  po 
liceman's  club,  and  hitching  forward  occasionally 
a  broad  belt  in  which  was  slung  an  archaic  revolver. 

"I  know  the  rules  of  these  cases,"  said  he  to  Car 
son.  "When  you  give  this  to  the  papers  say  some 
thing  about  the  way  the  police  end  of  it  was  han 
dled!" 

"Thank  you !"  said  Carson,  having  made  sure  that 
the  Virginia  was  intact.  "I  shan't  see  any  report 
ers." 

"Sure  you  will,"  said  the  thoughtful  constable. 
"I've  sent  f'r  them!" 

The  doctor,  a  nervous  little  man  with  no  voice, 
whispered  to  Carson  that  his  wife,  meaning  Vir 
ginia,  was  uninjured,  and  urging  him  to  go  in  and 
quiet  her  by  his  presence. 

"Neurology  my  specialty,"  said  he  slyly,  in  Car 
son's  ear.  "Left  big  practice  in  Philadelphia  on  ac 
count  of  nervous  prostration.  Acute  neuropathic 
symptoms  in  your  very  beautiful  young  wife,  sir — 
but  accident!  Nothing  to  it!" 


410    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

Carson  explained,  with  some  neuropathic  symp 
toms  of  his  own,  that  the  young  lady  was  not  his 
wife. 

"Excuse  me!"  whispered  the  doctor,  on  tiptoe. 
"As  to  whose  the  mistake  is,  yours  or  mine,  omis 
sion  or  commission,  can't  say;  but  pardon  me,  just 
the  same.  Must  go  now.  Other  patients,  you  know. 
My  card!" 

And  slipping  his  card  to  Theodore  with  the  air 
of  a  man  seeking  to  establish  a  connection  in  the 
castaway  trade,  he  whispered  himself  out,  being  re 
placed  almost  immediately  by  two  local  representa 
tives  of  the  metropolitan  press,  to  whom  Theodore 
resolutely  refused  to  say  a  word  beyond  the  state 
ment  that  the  Roc  was  wrecked  and  that  the  passen 
gers  were  saved.  This,  however,  did  not  prevent 
them  from  sending  in  highly-colored  accounts  of 
the  wreck  and  of  the  sensational  assistance  accorded 
her  by  the  Virginia  aeronef — which  were  expanded 
in  the  city  offices  into  the  sensation  of  the  day. 
Shayne,of  Aerostatic  Power, had  violated  the  Craig- 
head  injunction  in  the  Roc!  Craighead,  Carson,  and 
the  Shaynes  were  together  in  a  New  Jersey  village! 
Rumors  and  canards  on  'Change  and  the  curb !  Ex 
tras  and  red  type  on  yellow  first  pages!  But  the 
real  sensation  was  not  known  until  afterward. 

Craighead  was  a  long  time  gone,  returning  with 
a  perspiring  man  carrying  a  notary's  seal  in  one 


FINALE  411 

hand,  a  huge  volume  under  one  arm,  and  a  flat  book 
like  an  exaggerated  check-book  under  the  other. 
Following  them  were  a  tall,  angular,  serious-look 
ing  gentleman  in  wading  boots,  his  eyes  covered 
with  immense  blue  goggles — a  French  chauffeur, 
if  one  might  judge  by  certain  strong  proofs  in  gar 
ments  and  feature;  a  life-saving  crew  from  up  the 
coast  who  had  just  arrived  after  a  long-distance 
view  of  the  wreck;  and  several  water-side  charac 
ters  belonging  in  a  New  Jersey  way  to  the  Captain 
Harrod  class.  The  man  with  the  books  seemed  tired 
with  his  burden,  and  was  using  occasional  strong 
words. 

"Set  down,  set  down  your  honorable  load,"  said 
Craighead,  "if  honor  may  be  harried  with  a  curse. 
Fellow-citizens,  we  are  delighted  with  what  we 
have  seen  of  your  little  city.  The  climate  is  lovely, 
the  air  fresh,  and  the  water  warm.  We  like  it. 
What  do  you  call  it?" 

Carson  drew  Craighead  aside,  and  suggested  dry 
clothes. 

"Be  silent,  sirrah,"  cried  Craighead,  "and  do  as 
you  are  bid!  Friends,  the  performance  in  the  big 
tent  is  about  to  open.  This,  Mr.  Van  Brunt,  is  one 
of  the  principals." 

"Of  age,  I  see,"  said  Mr.  Van  Brunt,  looking  at 
Carson.  "I  guess  it's  all  right.  An'  where's  the 
other  party?" 


A  maid  who  had  devoted  herself  to  Virginia  re 
plied  that  Miss  Suarez  was  quite  able  to  see  people. 

"Come,  Mr.  Van  Brunt,"  said  Craighead,  "and 
view  the  precious  remains." 

Craighead  entered  at  Virginia's  "Come  in,"  but 
Mr.  Van  Brunt  went  no  farther  than  to  insert  half 
his  body  and  all  his  head  in  the  room  and  look 
searchingly  at  Miss  Suarez. 

"Of  course,"  said  he,  "you're  over  eighteen?" 

"Considerably,"  said  Virginia.    "But—" 

Mr.  Van  Brunt  had  vanished.  Craighead  gazed 
solemnly  at  Virginia,  and  spoke  sepulchrally. 

"These,"  said  he,  "are  some  of  the  local  forms  of 
the  initiation.  Be  obedient,  and  thou  shalt  prosper. 
Don't  do  nothin'  that  you  ain't  told  to — see?" 

"What  does  this  foolery  mean?"  asked  Carson  as 
Craighead  emerged  into  the  parlor,  where  Mr.  Van 
Brunt  was  engaged  in  filling  up  blanks  and  tearing 
them  out  of  the  big  check-book. 

"Foolery?"  said  Craighead.  "Profane  not  the 
sacred  mysteries  of  Eleusis!  Don't  get  cynical  nor 
funny.  You  are  not  a  very  important  person  here. 
Friends,  fellow-citizens,  Jerseymen,  lend  me  your 
ears!  We  have  met  for  certain  reasons  connected 
with  the  vital  statistics  of  our  common  country — to 
originate  an  epithet.  Two  problems  look  the  Amer 
ican  people  in  the  face  and  gnash  their  problematical 


FINALE  413 

teeth  and  snort.  What  are  they?  My  friend  the 
doctor,  who  has  returned  with  healing  in  his  fins, 
and  our  reverend  friend  in  the  waders,  can  bear  wit 
ness  from  their  reduced  perquisites  that  I  speak 
sooth  when  I  say  that  these  portentous  national 
dangers  lie  in  celibacy  and  race-suicide.  I  have 
made  a  specialty  of  them." 

"Hooray !"  shouted  the  captain  of  the  life-saving 
crew. 

"My  honorable  and  gallant  friend,"  said  Craig- 
head,  indicating  the  captain,  "hath  a  Smith  college 
pin  on  his  service  shirt.  It  is  not  to  thee,  O  potential 
benedict,  that  I  speak.  We  are  here  to  call,  not  the 
inoculated,  but  the  hitherto  immune  to  repentance. 
Fellow  reformers,  at  the  request  of  my  friend  Mr. 
Carson — General  Theodo'  Cahson,  M.  A. — I  sent 
a  motor-car  for  Mr.  Van  Brunt,  and  the  county- 
seat  of  this  county,  so  far  as  the  marriage  records 
are  concerned,  is  here.  The  Reverend  Mr.  Coryell 
has  kindly  agreed  to  perform  the  ceremony.  I  will 
assume  the  chair,  if  there  are  no  objections.  I  will 
entertain  a  motion  ordering  the  nuptials  to  proceed. 
I  assume  a  motion  for  the  regular  order.  Reading 
of  the  minutes  dispensed  with.  All  in  favor  of  the 
marriage  of  Theodore  Carson  and  Virginia  Suarez, 
say 'Aye!'" 

There  was  a  swelling  roar  of  "Ayes"  that  startled 


414    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

Virginia  into  a  belief  that  a  political  convention  was 
in  session  in  the  parlor.  Craighead  called  for  the 
"Nays,"  with  no  response. 

"It  is  a  vote,"  said  he.  "Unanimously!  I  con 
gratulate  you  in  this  harmony !  It  augers  well  for 
a  successful  campaign  and  a  triumphant  election. 
Will  some  one  volunteer  to  play  the  wedding  march  ? 
Thank  you,  sir!  May  your  own  landing  be  as  free 
from  the  gaff !" 

This  to  the  captain  of  the  life  savers,  who  seated 
himself  on  a  piano-stool  and  ran  his  hands  over  the 
keys. 

"And  now,  General,"  said  Craighead  to  Carson, 
"all  is  ready.  The  statutes  in  such  case  made  and 
provided  are  all  fulfilled.  Bring  out  the  bride,  and 
let  the  rapture  culminate!" 

"Craighead,"  said  Carson,  "come  outside,  and  I'll 
break  every  bone  in  your  body !" 

No  one  heard  this  but  Craighead,  and  he  received 
the  announcement  with  the  suavest  of  bows,  and  a 
withdrawal  with  Carson  on  his  arm. 

"Just  a  little  delay,"  said  he  to  Mr.  Coryell,  "you 
know  how  it  is — last  kisses  of  bridesmaids — veil 
askew — rubbish — but  we  must  wait." 

Mr.  Coryell,  with  Craighead's  money  in  his  pocket, 
sufficient  in  amount  to  pay  the  entire  expenses  of 
his  vacation  study  of  Atlantic  gasteropods,  waited 
smilingly,  rubbing  his  hands.  Mr.  Van  Brunt 


FINALE  415 

lighted  a  cigar  and  looked  officially  grave.  Carson 
seized  Craighead  by  the  throat  in  the  privacy  of  the 
kitchen. 

"What  do  you  mean !"  he  snarled.  "What  insane 
thing  is  this?" 

"Explanations,"  said  Craighead,  extricating  his 
throat,  "are  uncalled  for,  it  seemeth  to  me;  but  if 
given,  require  the  use  of  the  trachea.  Ah've  done 
did  what  you  done  tole  me,  boss !" 

"What  do  you  mean  ?" 

Carson  stood  before  Craighead  with  clenched 
fists,  furious  at  Craighead's  scandalous  use  of  Vir 
ginia's  name  in  public. 

"Strike,  in  due  time,"  said  Craighead,  "but  hear! 
You  told  me  to  do  for  you  what  I'd  want  done  in 
your  place.  You  said  Virginia  loved  you — " 

"I  said  I  believed  it!"  answered  Carson,  groaning. 
"Oh,  Craighead,  Craighead!  You've  ruined  me!" 

"Ruined  your  granny — that  is,  of  course,  I  dis 
agree  with  you  entirely.  Faint  heart  never  won  the 
money.  I  tell  you  the  wedding-bells  are  now  ring 
ing.  Go  to,  sirrah — go  to  her.  Give  her  the  rush. 
Lay  it  on  me.  Throw  a  fit  on  the  rug;  rip  and  tear; 
snort ;  weep ;  fight ;  fast ;  tear  thyself ;  drink  up  eisel ; 
eat  a  crocodile;  take  her  in  your  arms;  and  inciden 
tally  mention  the  fact  that  the  thing's  a  matter  of 
record,  and  will  be  in  all  the  papers.  It'll  work. 
Why,  blast  your  picture,  it's  got  to  work.  If  it 


416   VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

doesn't,  I'm  stuck  for  seventy-five  dollars  for  fees 
and  corruption  money !" 

Carson  walked  back  and  forth,  torn  with  rage, 
embarrassment  and  anxiety  for  the  result  with  Vir 
ginia,  thrilled  with  a  growing  realization  of  what 
it  might  mean  to  him. 

"I'm  going  in  to  tell  her,"  said  he.  "And  if  I  fail, 
I  shall  come  out  and  kill  you,  Craighead !" 

"I  shall  make  no  will,"  said  Craighead.  "Why, 
if  she  were  Caroline,  and  I  you — " 

Carson  walked  into  the  apartment  of  Virginia. 
The  serving-girl  withdrew  and  left  them  alone. 

"Virginia,"  said  he,  "I'm  going  to  take  you  with 
me!" 

She  flushed  rosily,  but  woman-like  refused  to  take 
his  meaning. 

"I  can't  go  back,  unkie,"  said  she.  "You  failed  in 
your  exams.  You  are  marked  away,  away  down  as 
an  uncle!  But  I've  forgiven  you." 

"Don't  let's  talk  of  that,"  said  he.  "I  shan't  even 
apologize.  I'm  glad  I  deceived  you !  Glad,  do  you 
hear?  And  now,  you're  going  back — Psyche — as  my 
wife.  Don't  struggle  and  try  to  escape.  Don't  you 
love  me?  Don't  you  love  me?  Don't  you  love  me?" 

She  was  past  the  struggle,  now,  and  in  the  new 
print  gown  of  the  servant  maid,  she  lay  in  his  arms, 
quite  surrendered.  Outside,  the  voice  of  Mr.  Craig- 
head  rose  and  fell  in  eloquence  uninterrupted,  save 
by  rounds  of  applause.  Like  the  orator  who  amuses 


FINALE  417 

the  throng  until  the  great  pageant  approaches, 
Craighead  was  doing  his  best.  Within,  Carson, 
holding  Virginia  tight,  repeated  over  and  over  the 
question,  of  which  both  knew  the  answer,  but  the  an 
swering  of  which  made  her  his  for  ever.  And  at  last, 
she  buried  her  face  in  his  breast,  and  voicelessly 
nodded  her  head — at  which  he,  with  the  lover's 
joy  in  his  bride's  blushes,  lifted  her  face  and  took 
his  reward  for  waiting.  The  time  passed  much  more 
rapidly  for  them  than  for  Mr.  Craighead.  His  voice 
grew  hoarse,  the  rococo  periods  grew  shorter,  and 
at  last,  he  rapped  on  the  door  and  called  "Time!" 

The  audience  had  entered  upon  the  phase  of  im 
patience  characterized  by  stamping  in  unison. 

"What  do  they  want?"  asked  Virginia. 

"Us,"  said  Carson.   "Let  us  go  out!" 

"Out?"  queried  Virginia.   "Out  there?" 

"Virginia,"  said  Carson,  "did  I  not  say  I  was 
taking  you  away  with  me  ?  Now  ?" 

"Oh!"  gasped  Virginia,  shrinking  back.  "You 
don't  mean  for  me  to  understand — " 

"The  minister  is  outside — to  marry  us— darling! 
Come!" 

"Oh,  Theodore,"  she  gasped,  "you  awful,  awful 
boy!  Oh,  I  can't!  Not  to-day!  I — I  am  not  pre 
pared  !  Oh,  you  presumptuous — " 

Something  smothered  this  reproach,  which  went 
on  inarticulately,  as  if  uttered  into  a  waistcoat 
pocket.  Virginia  was  being  hurried  in  minutes  along 


418    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

the  enchanted  stream  down  which,  in  ordinary  af 
fairs,  the  bark  of  courtship  drifts  enchantingly  for 
months.  To  go  with  Theodore — that  was  something 
immense,  unspeakable — sometime;  but  to  go  now? 
No,  she  said,  with  her  face  buried  in  his  coat,  she 
could  not!  Did  she  love  him?  Yes,  oh,  yes!  She 
had  got  past  denial  of  that!  Did  she  trust  him? 
How  could  he  ask  that !  He  knew  she  trusted  him ! 
He  was  the  dearest,  steadiest,  most  dependable,  most 
trustworthy —  Then  why  not  now?  Which  brought 
the  argument  back  to  the  stage  of  she-couldn't  Why 
couldn't  she?  Oh,  she  couldn't,  she  couldn't.  The 
door  opened.  Craighead's  voice  came  through  in 
inquiry. 

"All  ready?"  he  asked  loudly.  "Then  let  the 
cortege  move !  Dispensing  with  the  shawms,  the 
timbrels,  the  rebecs,  the  psalt  and  psaltery,  the  trump 
and  trumpery,  and  the  instrument  of  ten  strings,  let 
the  piano's  martial  blast  rouse  the  echoes  of  the  past. 
To  this  is  our  orchestra  reduced.  After  these  nup 
tials,  we  shall  have  the  full  music  of  the  grand  sweet 
song.  Like  Prince  Agib  of  Gilbertian  story, 

"  'We  will  diligently  play 
On  the  zoetrope  all  day, 
And  blow  the  loud  pantechnicon  all  night !' 

Forward!  March!" 


FINALE  419 

The  wedding  march  from  Lohengrin  tinkled  feel 
ingly  forth  from  the  piano.  The  minister  stood  in 
the  narrow  cirque  left  open  by  the  crowd.  Craig- 
head,  like  a  new-ducked  usher,  bowed  grandly  at 
the  door  to  let  them  through.  Theodore  took  Vir 
ginia's  plump,  print-covered  arm,  and  whispered  in 
her  ear  promises  which  instinct  told  him  would 
break  down  the  last  resistance.  All  things  went 
roseate  and  purple  and  golden  and  pink  before  Vir 
ginia's  eyes;  her  feet  mechanically  paced  the  short 
way,  and  she  stood  before  the  man  in  waders,  the 
most  divinely  shamefast  bride  ever  led  to  the  altar. 
The  short  service  went  on,  as  remembered  by  the 
priest. 

"Who  gives  this  woman  away?" 

And  who  but  Finley  Shayne,  broke  through  the 
press,  to  take  her  by  the  hand  and  respond  heart 
ily:  "I  do!" 

And  when  the  ring  was  called  for,  who  but  the 
captain  of  the  life-saving  crew,  true  to  the  traditions 
of  the  service,  came  forward,  and  took  it  from  his 
chain,  and  saved  them? 

And  when  the  minister  asked,  "Do  you,  Virginia, 
take  this  man  to  be  your  wedded  husband?"  and  the 
dear  old  remainder  of  it,  who  but  Theodore  Carson 
turned  dizzy  at  the  bride's  pause  before  answering, 
and  who  but  Virginia  said  sweetly  arid  clearly,  "I 


420   VIRGINIA    OF   THE   AIR    LANES 

And  there  was  a  whirl  of  congratulations,  in 
which  Mrs.  Shayne  joined,  weeping  most  properly; 
and  Carson  hugged  Craighead  purple  again;  and 
the  world  revolved  back  to  the  old  halcyon  days, 
when  no  storms  blew,  and  there  were  bowery  joys — 
the  joys,  thank  Heaven,  that  are  open  to  the  young 
and  good,  no  matter  what  their  station  in  life !  And 
even  Craighead's  statement  that  the  minister's  wad 
ers  were  ominous  of  the  deep  water  into  which  the 
happy  pair  was  getting,  failed  of  effect  save  to 
make  the  wedding  dinner — at  which  the  Shaynes 
sat  down — more  foolishly  hilarious. 

The  scuppernongs  were  ripening  in  the  arbor  at 
Carson's  Landing;  the  carpenter-bees  were  still  at 
their  carpentry;  the  myrtle  was  fragrant;  the  ole 
ander  was  in  full  bloom;  the  Satsuma  oranges 
glowed  golden  from  the  trees ;  and  the  woodpeckers 
still  wove  their  festoons  of  fire  from  tree  to  tree. 
Captain  Harrod,  removed  for  life  from  the  solitude 
and  temptations  of  the  dunes,  was  busy  mending 
fences.  Aunt  Chloe  was  scuffling  about  as  of  old; 
when  a  whistle  blew  in  the  river,  and  a  vessel  put 
off  at  the  landing  Mr.  Theodore  and  Miss  Virginia. 
The  captain  and  Aunt  Chloe  stood  in  wonder — for 
a  change  had  come  over  the  two  they  most  loved. 
Virginia  was  clinging  to  Theodore's  arm  with  both 


FINALE  421 

hands ;  and  as  they  passed  up  under  the  cedars,  they 
saw  Theodore  make  occasional  halts  to  kiss  her. 
When  they  came  to  the  door,  Theodore  paused,  and 
picking  Virginia  up  in  his  arms,  carried  her  up  the 
steps  and  over  the  threshold.  And  then  Aunt  Chloe 
knew. 

"Mah  sweet  chile!"  she  cried.  "Mah  deah  honey! 
Ah  knew  'twould  come.  Ah  knew  it !" 

"Aunt  Chloe,"  said  Virginia,  "I'm  not  to  blame ! 
He  abducted  me!" 

"Ah'm  powerful  glad,"  said  Captain  Harrod. 
"You  two  sho  belong  togethe'.  Ah  wush  you  much 
joy." 

"We're  having  that  now !"  cried  Virginia.  "And 
we're  down  here,  Aunt  Chloe,  not  to  make  you  any 
trouble,  but  to  live!  To  live  a  thousand  years  in  a 
month,  that  won't  seem  but  a  minute!  To  be  alone!" 

"We  don't  want  any  one  to  know  we're  here," 
said  Theodore.  "This  little  girl  is  enough  for  me, 
and  I  for  her.  The  rest  of  the  world — it's  lost!" 

"But  some  one  knows  a'ready,  suh,"  said  the  cap 
tain.  "We've  done  got  a  heap  of  telegrams  fo'  you." 

"Craighead,  darling!"  said  Theodore. 

"Open  them,  dearest,"  said  Virginia.  "I  hope  the 
dear  fellow — oh,  Mrs.  Graybill  likes  him,  I  know. 
But  open  the  telegrams !" 

In  their  order,  the  messages  were  opened.   The 


422    VIRGINIA    OF   THE   AIR    LANES 

first  was  dated  New  York,  and  was  sent  on  the  eve 
of  Craighead's  departure  to  learn  his  fate. 

"As  Caesar,"  said  he,  "consulted  the  oracles  and 
diviners  before  going  to  battle,  so  do  I,  who  am  the 
Caesar  of  the  legal  world,  since  the  temporary  in 
junction  is  made  permanent,  and  Shayne's  given 
up.  I  prefer  the  art  of  the  haruspex :  but  this  is  a 
legal  holiday,  and  the  live  stock  market's  closed.  So 
I  revert  to  the  daisy-petal  divination.  The  halting- 
places  on  the  road  that  takes  me  to  my  Caroline  are 
the  petals  on  the  flower  of  my  fate,  and  to  them  I 
appeal.  More  anon  .  .  .  They  end  with  'She 
loves  me'  or  Craighead's  obsequies  may  be  ar 
ranged." 

"I  can't  understand  him,"  said  Theodore,  "any 
better  than  when  I  found  him  in  the  garden." 

"Oh,  it's  perfectly  plain,  sweetheart!"  cried  Vir 
ginia.  "Open  the  rest!  Open  the  rest !" 

The  next  was  from  Peekskill,  and  consisted  of  the 
three  words  "She  loves  me."  The  next,  "She  loves 
me  not,"  was  from  Poughkeepsie.  Theodore,  with 
Virginia  sitting  on  his  knee,  read  one  after  another, 
to  the  growing  excitement  of  both.  Of  course  it  was 
foolish,  but  Craighead  was  not  to  be  judged  by  ordi 
nary  standards.  He  might  have  worked  himself  up 
to  a  whimsical  faith  in  this  old-new  divination. 
They  were  cast  down  at  the  "She  loves  me  not"  from 
Albany,  and  cheered  by  "She  loves  me"  from 


FINALE  423 

Schenectady.    Not  a  word  came  in  addition  except 
"Hurrah!"  added  to  the  "She  loves  me"  at  Chicago. 

"Hurrah!"  cried  Virginia. 

"But  wait,"  said  Theodore,  pulling  her  back  to 
the  perch  from  which  she  had  sprung.  "There  are 
several  stops  before  he  gets  to  Mr.  Waddy's — wait!" 

"Heaven  have  mercy !"  the  next  ran.  "I  thought 
it  was  all  right.  Again  the  fall-guy  of  destiny,  I 
must  go  on  a  local  train !  All  in  the  air  again !  Oh, 
that  this  too,  too  solid  flesh  might  melt !" 

On  they  went  with  the  reading,  and  from  one  lit 
tle  Illinois  town  after  another  came  the  "She  loves 
me"  and  "She  loves  me  not"  of  the  despairing 
Craighead.  At  last,  there  came  from  the  town  of 
the  Slattery  Institute  a  wail  of  defeat. 

"She  loves  me  not !  The  gods  have  done  me  dirt ! 
Back  to  Chicago  on  the  next  train — and  then  the 
Rat  Mort.  I  am  still 

"THE  GREAT  UNCALLED." 

"Oh,  the  crazy  fellow,"  Virginia  cried,  her  eyes 
full  of  tears.  "Can't  we  do  something?  That  tele 
gram  came  this  morning.  There  must  be  time !  Oh, 
he'll  destroy  his  life — for  a  whim !" 

"They's  anothah  done  come  sence  den,"  said 
Chloe.  "The  boy  jest  done  gone  when  you  come. 
Hyah  it  is!" 

They  were  enormously  wrought  up  in  opening  it. 


424    VIRGINIA    OF    THE    AIR    LANES 

"She  loves  me,"  it  read.   "One  of  those  petals  was 

a  water-tank.    Caroline  says  so.    Blest  be  the  man 

who  first  invented  tanks.   Cards  later.   I  have  scored. 

The  simple  life  henceforth.    Come  to  the  wedding. 

Did  you  notice  how  I  grasped  the  skirts  of  happy 

chance  and  grappled  with  me  evil  star?    Oh,  the 

game  is  easy  when  you  learn  it!    From  this  day, 

let  no  man  be  so  dippy  as  to  fail.   She  loves  me ! 

"THE  GREAT  CRAIGHEAD,  SOON  TO  BE 

REORGANIZED  AS  GREATER  CRAIGHEAD." 

"Oh,  oK,  oh — o,"  cried  Virginia.  "What  a  load 
off  our  minds,  sweetheart!  Isn't — it — a — good — 
world!" 

You  may  fill  up  the  blanks  yourself.  Virginia  did. 


THE  END 


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